- School carnivals take priority over training of Olympic athletes
- Sydney Olympic Park is an increasingly popular sporting venue
- High jump star Brandon Starc called the scenario “pretty annoying”
- World champion Elanor Patterson equally baffled by the situation
Two Australian Olympians preparing for the Paris Games in July have been left frustrated after being repeatedly kicked out of their main training center at Sydney Olympic Park to make way for school athletics carnivals.
World champion high jumpers Eleanor Patterson and two-time Olympian Brandon Starc have been moved to other athletics venues in Narrabeen, Bankstown and Penrith.
In a bid to find some stability, both athletes will fly to Japan this week to stay in Tokyo for a month, as the Olympics are only a few months away.
“We don’t have access to a runway in Sydney during the day, so it’s quite difficult in a lot of ways,” Patterson told the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘We want to maintain a normal routine, [but] School carnivals tend to take priority.
Two Australian Olympic athletes, including Brandon Starc, have become frustrated after being repeatedly kicked out of their main training center at Sydney Olympic Park.
World champion high jumpers Eleanor Patterson (pictured) and two-time Olympian Brandon Starc have been moved to other Sydney athletics venues in Narrabeen, Bankstown and Penrith.
Eleanor Patterson said it is vital for Olympic athletes to have a “normal routine”
“It means we can’t get access to a runway… so we end up going to Japan.”
Starc, fed up, added “unfortunately it has become the norm.”
“We are not very surprised with the result,” he said.
‘It’s still quite annoying. It doesn’t seem like anything is really happening, which is a shame.
“You would think high performance sport is a big priority in Australia.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Center (SOPAC) said the sports facility is one of the busiest in Australia.
“SOPAC supports NSWIS and Athletics NSW along with a wide range of events from school carnivals to international competitions,” they said.
“While challenging, we strive to balance the needs of the community, students and athletes at all levels of the sport.”