‘Beaudesert Bullet’ claims major athletics award
RISING sprint sensation Riley Day has become a fitting inaugural winner of the Betty Cuthbert Medal.
The medal, which honours the legendary four-time Olympic sprint gold medallist who died last year aged 79, will be awarded annually to the athlete who produces the most outstanding performance at the Australian track and field championships.
Day (pictured), 17, completed the women’s 100m-200m double at the meet at Carrara Stadium which doubled as the Commonwealth Games trials. Her winning time of 22.93 seconds in the 200m was the fastest by an Australian woman aged under 20 in 50 years.
Next up the Beaudesert teenager will contest the 200m and 4x100m relay at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April.
Cuthbert won gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and topped the podium again eight years later in Rome in the 400m.
RILEY Day hopes there will continue to be synergy with Olympic great Betty Cuthbert after winning Athletics Australia’s prize medal named in the sprint great’s honour.
Day was named the inaugural Betty Cuthbert medallist at a gala dinner on the Gold Coast on Sunday following her outstanding performances at the national track and field titles at Carrara Stadium.
Day not only claimed the sprint double but won the 200m in a time that pushed her to No.3 on Australia’s all-time junior rankings, sealing her Commonwealth Games spot and the medal.
“I honestly didn’t expect it at all,” Day said of winning the medal named in honour of Olympic great Cuthbert, who died last year.
“I knew there were such great performances on the weekend but it was just, I can’t even explain the feeling that I felt when I was announced.
“It was one of the greatest achievements of my athletics career so far and it was such an honour and I’m really grateful that they chose me.”
Cuthbert may have won the last of her four Olympic golds more than 50 years ago, but Day needed no reminder of her standing in the athletic community.
“She was a fellow sprinter, so that makes it even more special,” Day said.
Cuthbert won three golds at the Melbourne Olympics as an 18-year-old – the same age Day will turn just days out from the opening ceremony of the Gold Coast Games.
“Hopefully I can follow in her career, which was an awesome one,” Day said.
“I’d be honoured to follow in her footsteps.”
Day will postpone celebrations for her 18th birthday, a small sacrifice given the circumstances.
“Not many 18-year-olds can celebrate their birthdays in the Commonwealth Games, so I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she said.
HOPEFULLY I CAN FOLLOW IN HER CAREER, WHICH WAS AN AWESOME ONE RILEY DAY ON BETTY CUTHBERT