STUNTMAN BLOOD KEEPS WEET-BIX KID RUNNING
GOLD Coast kid Ayla Stripp has stuntman blood in her veins and has wasted no time putting it to good use.
The Varsity Lakes eightyear-old was one of 650 kids competing in the Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon yesterday, cheered on by her daredevil father Leon.
Mr Stripp, who works with Touchstone Pictures, said he had “no choice” but to let his daughter give it a go.
“We saw it on one of the Weet-Bix packets and she’s very sporty, very adventurous and she asked to do it, so we supported it,” he said.
“She loves her surfing, her rock-climbing. There’s not much fear in this one. She’s worked on a couple jobs, she got sent over to Fiji to fall off a boat last year so I think she’s pretty keen to pursue that.”
But Ayla has other plans in mind.
“I’m going to try again next year and keep on going until I end up in the Olympics or something,” she said, adding she’s been in training for the event for a while.
“I usually do some runs after school, I do athletics, and me and my dad sometimes go out surfing.”
The triathlon skipped the Gold Coast last year due to the Commonwealth Games before returning to Broadwater Parklands with double its previous number of participants.
Eager to see it come back was ambassador and retired Olympian Libby Trickett, who has been involved for several years.
“To be a part of something that has such a broadreaching legacy, I feel really privileged to be a small part of it,” she said.
“I’m really passionate about kids getting involved in sport, and this is a really wonderful non-threatening environment to do that.
“Competitive sport is really important but we also need to create environments that are safe, fun and engaging for kids to try.”