Julie Charlton rewarded with bronze medal – Athletes with Disability Championships, Sydney
Human rights activists rightly call disabled people as ‘differently able’. In athletics too, where standard physical fitness is a prerequisite, they have displayed equally admiring performances to impress their spectators.
In today’s world, there are hundreds of examples where special people displayed some of the most stunning performances.
One such athlete, who has done a miracle by carving a name in athletics, is the young, year 6 student, Julie Charlton.
While performing at the fiercely competitive ‘Athletes with Disability Championships’ at Olympic Park Sydney, Australia, the tender age performer outperformed her rivals in shot put competitions and finished for a third position on the podium.
Julie, who is also a discus throw specialist, performed well in this discipline as well. She has been a die-heart athletics fan since childhood and maintains an impressive record in both of the athletics disciplines she performs in.
A student at the Hills Grammar School, she boasts of winning a gold medal in discus throw and a bronze medal in shot put competition at the Primary School Sports Association Championships.
The talented young athlete, who suffers from spina bifida, is also an active participant of acting class at her school and loves to go for swimming.
The 12-year-old cherished performer of the event said, “I enjoy swimming for fun but really love athletics. I started competing in athletics in 2009 at the age of 10. Most of my competitions were at the park but I competed in the nationals at Bendigo in
2010 – that was a great experience”.
While expressing her love for athletics and talking about the competition levels at which she has performed so far, Julie revealed that the athletics discipline she loves the most to perform in is discus throw.
Talking about her interaction with her fellow young athletes at the ‘Athletes with Disability championships’, Julie said: “I have met some amazing people through my sport and I love catching up with them at each competition. Before each competition I go
into my backyard and practice but the cat keeps chasing my shot put and sitting on it”.
In order to have proper training, Julie has now joined the Cherrybrook Athletics Club.
The stellar performer, who is rightly being considered as a rising star, aspires to represent Australia in Athletics at an international level one day. She is also ambitious to participate in the Commonwealth Games.
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