Athletics body slammed as Aussies flock to rebel event
An Olympic javelin thrower has slammed Athletics Australia as she prepares to back a Sydney businessman’s rebel event aiming to turbocharge the sport amid claims of neglect.
Australian record holder Kathryn Mitchell, who’s hoping to become a four-time Olympian in Paris this year, has accused Athletics Australia of doing a slack job as she gets ready to hurl javelins on Sunday.
John Crandell, a 32-year-old businessman and the president of Wests Track and Field, is set to run the Wayne Crandell Memorial Athletics Festival at Wyatt Park in Sydney’s west.
He’s on a mission to earn silver World Athletics status for the Auburn meet by next year and turn it into an event that, entertainment-wise, has shades of the Diamond League and T20 cricket.
If Crandell’s vision comes to fruition, he expects it to be so spectacular that it will “snap necks” at Athletics Australia.
World Athletics Championships bronze medallist Mackenzie Little will compete against Mitchell on Sunday, eager to bank another domestic meet before contesting the Australian Track and Field Championships, taking place in Adelaide in April.
“It’s disappointing the way we are promoted,” Mitchell told Wide World of Sports.
“Obviously in women’s javelin we’ve got great depth at the moment and have had for the last few generations, really, and that’s purely coincidence. We’ve got no system in Australia that’s designed to build up these events.
