Riley Day to postpone her birthday celebrations to fine tune her Commonwealth Games preparations

RILEY Day will delay her 18th birthday celebrations this week to focus on a Commonwealth Games preparation which now includes a 200m race against Jamaica’s Olympic sprint double champion Elaine Thompson.

RILEY Day will delay her 18th birthday celebrations this week to focus on a Commonwealth Games preparation which now includes a 200m race against Jamaica’s Olympic sprint double champion Elaine Thompson in Brisbane on Wednesday.

Day, the Australian 100m and 200m champion, will have her last races before the Gold Coast Games in a 200m and a 4x100m relay at the Queensland International Track Classic at the State Athletics Facility at Nathan.

Riley Day wins the 200m at the Australian Athletics Championship.

Jamaicans Thompson and Shericka Jackson (200m), Yohan Blake and Julian Forte (men’s 100m), and Christania Williams (women’s 100m) are among the headliners drawn from 29 nations in the last meet before the Games.

Among the non-entries are Games 100m hurdles defending champion Sally Pearson and Australian 100m champion Trae Williams.

Day’s elevation to a race including Thompson and England’s 200m world championships finalist Dina Asher-Smith underlines the strides she has made this year, breaking 23 sec for the 200m and putting herself in contention to make the final at Carrara Stadium next month.

Riley Day is about to turn 18 but is putting her celebrations on hold. Picture Mike Batterham

“It’s definitely exciting. It’s good to run alongside them and see how you compare at this stage,’’ Day said. “ It will be challenging but really fun at the same time.’’

Day, from Beaudesert, said she would celebrate Friday’s birthday with family and friends after the Games.

Originally published as Riley Day to postpone her birthday celebrations to fine tune her Commonwealth Games preparations