Success For Young Kiwi Athletes

A total of 42 medals were won by the 15 New Zealand athletes who have recently returned from the Australian Paralympic Youth Games in Melbourne.

Hokitika’s Holly Robinson, 14 won five gold medals in athletics and Warkworth’s 14 year-old Aine Kelly-Costello won four gold in swimming.

All the athletes performed well and nearly all came away with at least one medal

The Games took place in Melbourne’s premier sporting venues, including the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre and Olympic Park and were an opportunity for young athletes from around New Zealand, Australia, USA and Papua New Guinea to participate in a world class event in six sports: Athletics, Swimming, Wheelchair Basketball, Table Tennis, 7-a-side football and Wheelchair Tennis.
The Games were seen as an integral pathway for junior athletes to develop their skills in the pursuit of further national representation including the Paralympic Games.

“Being able to participate in an event like this is essential for the development of our young and talented New Zealand athletes. The entire team performed extremely well and were a credit to both themselves and New Zealand,” says Ken Sowden, Team Manager