Ballito runner Amy Naudé makes it to Europe!

The North Coast community dug deep to support the plans of reigning South African junior 400m champion, Amy Naudé, to raise funds to compete in Italy.

The Courier featured the Ballito runner last month, when she spoke about her dreams to compete on the world stage in Europe.

As a South African athlete, this means self-funding with little support from the national athletics body.

She turned to the online platform BackaBuddy as a fundraising source, needing R50 000 in order to cover her travel and living expenses.

Within a month the 19-year-old had enough to pay her way.

“I feel so privileged to have been given this opportunity among the world’s best. I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who contributed and supported me along the way,” she said.

Since she touched down in Italy on June 27, Amy has been in a mandatory 10-day isolation in Gemona in the north-east of the country.

The city hosts all of the South African athletes who are managed by Pierre van Zyl and Amy will join a competitive group.

“I am so excited to join all of these great athletes in preparation for my 3 races.”

Amy will be racing against some of Europe’s top athletes who are preparing for the Olympics.

She will get a chance to measure herself against the truly elite and see what it takes to qualify for Paris 2024.

“My career is just starting, so to be exposed to this level of competition early on is going to be invaluable when I come back to SA to train.”

When she arrives back on July 26, all of her focus will be on bringing back gold in the World Junior Championships, set to be held in Kenya in August.