Harrie to represent Western Australia in International Tour

There are not too many sports in the world where you can come in at the age of 13 and take on the National Gold Champion and give him a run for his money!

Well I am and this is my story!

Harrie Kuhn here! 13 years old and in grade 8. I hate school………. But I love sport. In fact, I aspire to be a Professional Athlete.

My love is for all sports, but especially Basketball, Baseball and now a new found love for Athletics.

This past summer I had to make a tough decision to play either Basketball or Baseball, as they both clashed on a Saturday afternoon. I chose to continue with Basketball. Leaving my Saturday mornings now free, I asked mum if I could try Little Athletics.

I started my Little Athletics journey 6 months ago. I wanted to do athletics to keep myself fit, improve my strength and condition my body.

Unfortunately, basketball trainings fell on the same evening as Athletics training, which meant that through the summer season I have been to a total of only 4 Athletics Trainings!

Come competition days on Saturday mornings, with very little training, I could see that I was challenging the National Gold Champion at many events, and this boy has been training since he was 8 years old!

Fast Forward to the end of the season, I had qualified for the State Championships. An exciting time for any athlete, State Championship Titles are a huge deal.

Triple Jump has been my easiest event through the season. A natural feel for the event and I was excited to see my results at the Championships.

With a current Personal Best of 10.24 metres, I knew I had to bring my best and greatest jump that weekend. I was jumping for a podium finish against the toughest athletic champions in the State.

With a tough field of 23 Triple Jump Athletes, things were about to get serious.

After each male had jumped their 3 jumps, I was sitting in Bronze position. Making the Finals was so exciting, but I had to keep my position to get on that podium.

The Top 8 males all get a 4th and final jump. Starting from the 8th positioned male and working the way up to the 1st position.

It was the 4th positions jump, and he did it! He jumps 11.24cm to put him in to Bronze position. He had knocked me out of a podium finish.

I knew I had to bring my best ever jump. I had to jump a PB to get back into Bronze position.

I DID IT!!!!

A new PB of 11.59m

Not only did I get a podium position, I jumped into Silver! No matter what happened with the final 2 jumpers, I was going to finish with a podium position!!!

Harrie Kuhn – Western Australia’s SILVER medallist for Under 15 males. Silver, behind the new Gold Medal Champion – who is also last years National Australian Gold Medal Champion! With some training – can you imagine what is possible for me!

A Natural jumper. And hopefully an incredible future.

This Silver Medal jump has automatically qualified me for the National Championships and an International Championship event.

11th April – 19th April - Australian Athletics National Championships – Adelaide

25th April – 29th April – Australian Little Athletics National Championships – Adelaide

10th July – 15th July – Junior International Athletics Championships – Malaysia

I am so proud to wear the Western Australian State Team uniform and give my all at the Championships and International Tour.

At the recent Australian Championships I placed 11th in Australia for the Senior Championships and 5th in Australia for the Little Athletics Championships! Not bad with minimal training! I am so proud of what I have achieved so far.

I am really looking forward to represent Western Australia in the upcoming Tour to Malaysia.

With high level sporting commitments, comes high costs also.

The cost of the above tours will be around $10,000 for me to compete. Flights, accommodation, transport, competition fees.

Your support would not only help me achieve my immediate goals but also propel me closer to realising my dreams of becoming a professional athlete. Any contribution, no matter how small, would be deeply appreciated and would make a significant difference in my journey.

Thank you for taking the time to read story! Remember my name: Harrie Kuhn - this is the start of my journey.

HK