spot_img

Multi Olympic Gold Medalist Stops by BSN for Impromptu Training

spot_img
spot_img

Latest News

spot_img

With many of the biggest names in sport in Nanjing for tomorrow’s IAAF World Challenge event, a few took time out yesterday to spend with students at The British School of Nanjing (BSN), putting them though their paces in a number of disciplines.

A total of five professional athletes stopped by the school yesterday, 19 May, to conduct workshops with young athletes, on for example, the correct way to start a race or approach a hurdle or ten.

Among the sporting stars on the BSN multi-purpose pitch this sunny Sunday afternoon were Tianna Bartoletta (USA), 3-time Olympic gold medal winner; Halimah Nakaayi (Uganda), Commonwealth Youth Games gold medal winner; and Sergey Shubenkov (Russia), current 110 metre hurdles world number 1.

Over 100 members of the school’s student body excitedly turned out, for not just a glimpse of a hero or three, but also a personal training session that they will likely never forget, to say nothing of some awe-inspiring social media opportunities.

Speaking with The Nanjinger on their appearance at BSN, Bartoletta said, “Sport often imitates life; the skills that make you successful on the field of play are transferable to things that hopefully make you into a functioning adult. I think the younger you expose children to those kind of skills, the better off they will be later on”.

Formed in 2010, the IAAF World Challenge series features several 1-day meets held across the season. The meeting in Nanjing will be the fourth event of the series, following competitions in Brazil, Jamaica and Japan. To be held at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre on 21 May, the competition will also serve as a prelude to the city’s appointment as host of the IAAF World Indoor Championships in 2020.

Bartoletta took home the gold medal for women’s long jump in the 2016 Rio Olympics, together with gold in the 4×100 metre women’s relay, while she was also on the gold medal-winning team in the London Olympics’ relay of 2012. 

Yet, unlike when she was flying 7.08 metres to her long-jump win, her feet remain very much on the ground as to the nature of competition. “I think you need to teach children how to win and how to lose. As adults, we don’t win everything, and we need to know how to process that disappointment, and how to use it to move forward. I think it’s doing children a disservice to give everyone a ribbon, for just showing up. I understand it, but I don’t think it’s the most effective way to go about teaching children that lesson”, she told The Nanjinger.

Yesterday was undoubtedly a moment in sport for many a BSN student that they will remember for the rest of their lives. Nakaayi summed up the students’ afternoon best, saying, “Seeing a world champion, it motivates them, helps them to believe in themselves, that things are possible, through hard work you can get somewhere; through sports, you can change your life and you can be someone in the future”.

- Advertisement -

Local Reviews

spot_img

OUTRAGEOUS!

Regional Briefings