World Athletics Championships: Riley Day and Ella Connolly to make senior debuts

Sprinters Riley Day and Ella Connolly are following a tradition of Aussie youngsters at the athletics world championships.

Riley Day, left, and Ella Connolly in London as they prepare to make their debuts at the world athletics championships next week. Picture: Athletics Australia

It is 2010 and Riley Day and Ella Connolly are 10 years old. They are running at their first national primary schools championships in Bendigo. They’re both small-town girls from country Queensland, so to them it’s a big deal.

Little do they suspect that seven years later they will make their senior international debuts together at the world championships in London. But that’s what will happen in the next week.

They are still schoolgirls now, but Day, from Beaudesert, and Connolly, from Caboolture, are the youngest members of the 62-member Australian team that will contest the world titles. They follow in a tradition of promising teenagers being blooded young for experience, like Cathy Freeman, Jana Pittman and Sally Pearson before them.

Day and Connolly were members of the Australian junior team that competed successfully at the Commonwealth Youth Games in The Bahamas last month. Day won the 200m and finished second in the 100m, while Connolly finished second in the 400m.

Riley Day winning at the Nitro Series in Melbourne in February. Picture: Michael Klein

Connolly was in The Bahamas when she was told she wouldn’t be going home at the end of the Games, she’d be travelling to London to join the senior 4 X 400m relay team, which reached the Olympic final in Rio last year.

Day took a more roundabout route. She had been home from The Bahamas for a day when Athletics Australia called to say she had received a roll-down place in the 200m in London, based on her world ranking. A few days later she was off to London.

“I still can’t believe that I’m here,’’ she said. “It’s so surreal. I said to Ella last time I saw her, I’ll be watching you on TV, go and get ‘em, run hard.

‘When my mum told me: “They want you to go to London”. I didn’t say anything for 10 minutes. I just couldn’t believe, it but I wouldn’t pass up an opportunity like this, especially at 17, it’s amazing.’’

She’s in Year 12 and she’s only managed to get to school for three days of the current term but she has no regrets about that.

“I was definitely going to come, no matter what,’’ she said. “Even if everyone said “No”. I was like: “Sorry. See ya.’’

Ella Connolly at the Youth Commonwealth Games in Nassau. Picture: Getty Images

Connolly arrived at the Australian team’s training camp at Tonbridge, outside London, a week earlier, so has had more time to settle in. But she was thrilled to hear that Day would be joining her on this Girls’ Own Adventure.

“I came into the camp on the first day and I absolutely knew no one,’’ the St Columban’s College student said.

“But I’m lucky the Australian team are all so caring and lovely, especially the older athletes, who know what it’s like to be in that position, some of them. But to have your best friend here, what more can you ask.’

“Sally, Lauren Wells, Steve Solomon, they’ve all been in my position, being young, and I think they all did a relay as well when they were 17 so they had the experience of being there and doing that. They were all so lovely, they checked in with me every day, made sure I was okay, making friends. It’s just awesome for them to be at that level and still care about us young ones.’’

Day will have more focus on her as she contests the individual 200m, but she’s getting used to that. She emerged from obscurity during the Nitro Series in February, when she was drafted into the Australian team and took on Usain Bolt in a mixed relay.

“That seemed to help me with learning not to take things as seriously,’’ she said. “Before Nitro I used to get extremely nervous for everything. After that I’ve learned to calm down a little bit.

“From Usain, I got the vibe not to take things so serious, just have fun with it and do your best and that’s all you can really hope for and if you come away with a PB or a medal, that’s a bonus.’’

Nitro made Day an instant star. “It was a bit crazy, going from little to no publicity to a two-three radio calls a day’’ she said.

“It was different coming from a small town. The Beaudesert Times, that was the only publicity I got. Being on the news, that was one of my life goals, to be on TV.”

Day said her goal for the world titles was to “go there and run as fast as I can”

“I’m just going to go there and run it like a final because that’s what I feel like I’ll have to do. I’ll just be running, guns blazing.’’

She hopes that will be enough to earn her an A qualifier (23.10sec) for next year’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

Both girls are desperately keen to qualify for the Australian team for the home Games..

“It’s definitely a goal we’re working towards, it’s definitely a goal to run in front of the home crowd at your first Commonwealth Games,’’ Connolly said. “It doesn’t get any better than that.’’