DAY ON THE DOUBLE

TEEN SPRINT QUEEN WINS GAMES SPOT SPORT

AUSTRALIAN head coach Craig Hilliard says Riley Day must not be burdened by the weight of public expectation at the Commonwealth Games despite becoming the fresh face of the national team.

The Beaudesert teen and Gold Coast Victory Athletics Club member was named the inaugural winner of the Betty Cuthbert Medal last night after pushing into rare territory at the weekend’s national championships.

The award caps an incredible 12 months for the 17-year-old, who won the sprint double at the weekend and shot to third place on Australia’s all-time junior list for the 200m after winning the event to seal an individual run at the Games.

Day’s winning effort of 22.93sec ranks behind only Olympians Raelene Boyle (inset) and Jennifer Lamy in the under-20 ranks. And her effort is even more remarkable given both Boyle and

Lamy posted their times at altitude at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, while Day ran into a headwind of 1.7m/s.

“I didn’t even notice (the headwind), to be honest with you. I wasn’t thinking about it at all but to run that time with a massive headwind it’s reassuring that I can potentially run faster soon,” Day said.

While excitement continues to build over the Day’s potential, Hilliard wants her to be unencumbered by public expectation.

“Just let Riley go through the process of being an athlete and enjoying what she’s doing,” he said. “Let’s put targets out of her head, times out of her head.

“Just let her go out and compete and how the cards fall, they fall – and it’s going to make her a better athlete.”

“Her future is ahead of her, so this is just a perfect stepping stone for an athlete of that age,” Hilliard said.

Day is reassuring levelheaded for someone so young and is unlikely to let her efforts at the weekend go to her head.

“It’s definitely a big competition but I have to keep reminding myself that I’m only 17 and (my main competitors) are 26 and I’ve got hopefully a long way to go to come to my best.

“Running against them is more experience for myself, I can never have enough experience under my belt, so I’m grateful for it.”

While she has sealed an individual spot in the 200m and will run as part of the sprint relay, Hilliard said there was no scope in the selection policy to allow Day to run the 100m, despite her national title.

Having not posted an A or B qualifier in the shorter sprint, Day cannot be nominated to run the event.