Oskar sets new Australian record

Oskar Wilson has returned from the School Sports Australian Championships as an Australian record holder.

The 11-year-old St Joseph’s Primary School student threw a personal best of 7.01 metres in the discus to finish second overall and set an Australian record in the F43 class.

Oskar, who was born with Spina Bifida, had been selected in the Victorian team to compete in the multi-class shot put and discus. Oskar also shot a personal best in the shot put to finish fifth in a strong field, while Oskar’s team also finished second in the fun team competition to cap a strong national carnival for the local athlete.

Oskar’s journey to state team selection began back in April, eventually progressing to make the strong final team of 140 athletes aged between 10 and 12 years which included 26 multi-class athletes.

A whirlwind month of competition saw Oskar put in an impressive performance at the state championships to win selection in the Victorian team.

Such was the tight turnaround between competition, the Victorian team only had two training sessions in Melbourne ahead of national competition at Albert Park’s Lakeside Stadium.

The national championships proved a full-on schedule for the athletes, who attended opening and closing ceremonies, team photos, team dinners and an excursion to the Melbourne Cricket Ground in between competition against athletes from Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania.

The friendly spirit of the carnival finished with a friendly team competition, which saw Oskar and two fellow Victorians team up with athletes from the Northern Territory and South Australia.

Oskar said he had a wonderful experience at the championships and made many new friends, whom he hopes to see again in future.

Oskar is now setting his sights towards selection for the Victorian team next year, which would see him head off to Darwin to compete and reunite with his new friends again.