Rising Australian 400m runner Morgan Mitchell will be one to watch at the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio.
The talented 21 year-old is the reigning national champion and has been named as an Ambassador for Wolfdene’s Community program. Her role will involve several school visits following the Games to promote health, wellbeing and resilience.
Mitchell, who will also compete in the 4 x 400m relay in Rio, said working with children was something she loved doing.
“I’ve always loved kids and love seeing them happy,” she said.
“It’s heartbreaking when they’re sad or upset because of something happening at home and I just want to be there to help, to be honest. A lot of people think ‘they’re kids, you know what, they’ll get over it and grow up’ but you need to be a kid to learn in life. It has to be positive in my eyes because that’s going to be with you forever.”
Mitchell was a multi-talented athlete growing up, excelling at various sports and was named in the Australian Under 19 squad for netball as well as the national youth team for athletics.
“It was always a dream of mine to go to Brazil. I called my (athletics) coach up and said ‘Look, I want to go to Rio in four years’ and he kind of giggled and said ‘We’ve got a lot of work to do’, (but) he believed in me, mum believed in me and they both said ‘go for it’.”
The City of Wyndham resident believes sport can help give children a sense of purpose and direction.
“I think it helps because you don’t find yourself lost and that’s one thing I hate, seeing kids lost; they don’t know what to do with themselves at all because they’ve never actually focussed on something, they’ve kind of just floated their way through life and it’s quite sad. If they can get into whatever it is that excites them, it can set them up for the future.”
Wolfdene’s General Manager of Community Engagement Eivion Bowen said he was delighted to welcome the track star as an Ambassador.
“It’s really exciting to have a rising and determined athlete in Morgan Mitchell on board with our Community program,” he said.
“Morgan is such a passionate and talented competitor. We’re thrilled that she’s earned her place in Rio and we can’t wait to cheer her on as she chases further dreams”.
