Callum Martin is a 13-year-old on a mission – to represent Australia at the Olympics in walking.
And, the Charlestown athlete’s already taking leaps and bounds to get there.
This week he was atop the podium in Adelaide after winning gold in the under-13 3km walk at the 2024 Australian Junior Championships.
The Hunter Sports High student not only won the race by a minute, but also achieved a personal best time of 13.33.
Hoping for back-to-back victory, Callum will be racing again in Adelaide this weekend, 26 to 28 April, when he competes at the 2024 Coles Australian Little Athletics Championships.
He’ll be one of more than a thousand young athletes competing, only this time he’ll be wearing NSW colours.
He’ll also be proudly representing the Adamstown New Lambton Athletics Club, where he first discovered his walking prowess just over two years ago.
The 2024 Coles Australian Little Athletics Championships consists of an U13, U14 and U15 Track & Field Championship including Multi-Class athletes and an U15 Combined Events Championship.
For Callum, it’s another stepping stone that will ultimately get him to his long-term goal.
“When I started walking I’d get a feeling of joy and happiness,” he says.
“It’s just something I love doing.
“I started [Little] Athletics because it was an activity mum could take me to with all three of my siblings.
“You could try all different events at club night each week and [walking] was just one of the events I was really good at.”
Aside from having an innate talent for the sport, Callum says the winning comes from hard work.
“My talent comes from hard work and my awesome coach Joanne McGinniskin,” he says.
Callum’s mum Marissa says good hip flexibility helps, too.
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