Blairgowrie athlete throws furthest at the South African Schools Athletics Championships

Blairgowrie based athlete Skyla Aoun bagged a gold medal at the South African Schools Athletics Championships in Bloemfontein.

Skyla competed in the U15 girl’s shotput against athletes from all around the country. She explained that dedication and the right mindset helped her take the gold medal home. “I trained every day after school. Having a wrestling back round also helped me a lot with achieving my goal. I felt I wasn’t ready for this competition. I woke up on the day feeling very nervous and doubting myself, but I managed to correct my mindset and went for the gold.”

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Skyla started doing shotput last year, and believes that she is doing much better with her technique and distance.

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She explained that shotput is not all about strength; it’s about the technique, and the momentum of how you throw the metal ball to be able to reach your goal. “It takes a lot of hard work and training. You have to keep fit and stay on track with a healthy diet. It all comes down to dedication to become a South African medallist. I won it, and that’s means I’m the best U15 in the whole country. From Cape town to Durban, I managed to defeat them. I feel very proud and honoured.”

Skyla is inspired by two time world champion Chase Jackson, and her ultimate dream is to make it to the Olympics one day. “Shotput has showed me that with a lot of hard work I can achieve my goals. If I put my mind to it, anything is possible. The sky is the limits.”

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