Nitro Athletics has taken Melbourne by the scruff of the neck over the past week, placing the sport on the international stage for die-hard fans whilst also achieving its goal of tapping into the wider population.
The VIS was well represented as our athletes embraced the revolutionary aths concept- we had more scholarship holders involved at Lakeside Stadium than any other Australian institute.
The finale began with Luke Mathews anchoring Australia in the mixed medley-distance relay, holding off England’s Michael Rimmer over the final two laps.
As she did earlier in the competition Morgan Mitchell paired up with Victorian Luke Stevens over the 2x300m relay, and they delivered huge performances to stun the Bolt All-Stars team by the smallest of margins, 0.02 seconds.
Jeff Riseley made his way onto the winners list, claiming victory in the mixed three-minute challenge where he produced an inspiring final 100m to finish 10 metres in front of the field.
A large boisterous crowd also cheered Ryan Gregson as he produced his well renowned “kick” over the final 100m in the elimination mile to take down training partner Matthews Ramsden of the Bolt All-Stars team.
Genevieve LaCaze couldn’t emulate her victories from night one but managed second in the gruelling but exciting elimination mile where the last athlete drops out each lap.
Amongst the team throughout the week, but not featuring on the final night were Linden Hall in the distance events and Kathryn Mitchell in the javelin throw.
In what was a perfect finale to the debut of Nitro Athletics, Australia was leading coming into the final event but there was one major problem, it involved the fastest man in the world and he wasn’t in the green and gold.
Usain Bolt capped off the night, and the series, with a victory in the relay and overall win, edging out Australia by 77 points.
