Lead Articles - In the news

Olympic Exclusion adds significance to upcoming World Champs for Aussie Softball Champ

Dianna Henry — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:00:00 GMT

Tomorrow, Thursday 10th June, 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Kylie Cronk will set off for the Women’s World Softball Championship which is now the pinnacle competition for softball players following the International Olympic Committee’s decision to remove the sport from the 2012 and 2016 Olympic programs.

Cronk is the vice-captain of the Australian women’s softball team, the Aussie Spirit, who are currently ranked third in the world.

At this year’s World Championship in Venezuela the Aussie Spirit will seek to build on their bronze medal finishes at the 2008 Olympics and 2006 World Championship to claim Australia’s first women’s world softball title since 1965.

26-year-old Cronk, who has played over 150 matches for Australia, said she is not daunted by the promise of tough competition in the early stages of the World Championship with placement in the same pool as America and China.

“My entire focus for the last twelve to eighteen months has been to firstly gain selection into the team to play at this World Championship, and then secondly to succeed at this World Championship.

Toddler treadmills - so wrong

Dianna Henry — Thu, 13 May 2010 14:00:00 GMT

As I was preparing dinner last night, something on the news caught my attention. Some opportunitic people out there have invented exercise equipment for children. And some gyms have now set up areas where children can work out.

Now I'm all for getting kids active but I don't agree this is the way to go about it. I don't have kids, so I admit that I may not fully appreciate the difficulties that parents have trying to encourage their children to be active. I don't want to be too judgmental but I feel that this is a bit of a lazy solution and doesn't really instill the right philosophies about being active. And it doesn't seem like it would be particularly good for a toddler's bone/muscle development.

One of the parents interviewed for the feature said that it was great being able to put them in front of cartoons on their treadmill. This just seems so wrong.

The show also spoke about baby bootcamp. Now don't even get me started on that!

Does anyone have equipment like this? Or would you consider it? I'm interested to know whether this is a trend that is going to stick.

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Emma Jackson wins Gold Coast Triathlon - Luke Harrop Memorial

Dianna Henry — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:00:00 GMT

A record 2,500 athletes competed in the Gold Coast Triathlon - Luke Harrop Memorial festival on the weekend. “All seven events in the series saw a 25 percent increase in participation and the Saturday Tri Clinics were a huge hit for new competitors and those wanting to fine tune some skills,” said Project Manager Melissa Stephens.

Up and coming triathlete Emma Jackson won not only the women's event, but also the Luke Harrop Memorial Bursary. The Bursary is awarded to the highest ranked athlete over three races - Noosa Triathlon, Mooloolaba Triathlon and the Gold Coast event. Emma won the Gold Coast event by over a minute - quite a gap at this high level.

We had a quick chat with Emma to find out what sort of training it takes to win!

Jessica Watson - sailing solo

Dianna Henry — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:00:00 GMT

Sixteen year old school girl, Jessica Watson, launched her yacht on 17 October 2009. Her goal being to sail around the world non-stop and unassisted. After over 5 months at sea, she is now on her homeward stretch having left the Cape Agulhas, South Africa and is now headed for Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia.