AT her first international meet Kelsie Youman won a gold medal in the Under 18, 800m final at the Oceanic Melanesian Championships in Fiji, where she represented the Australian Regional team.
It was the moment of a lifetime for the 17-year-old Guyra High School student.
Kelsie worked extremely hard with her coach Jay Stone and the Viper squad in Armidale, as well as training in Guyra with her mother Nadine.
“My goal was to achieve a personal best time in both events,” Kelsie said. “To get the gold was a bonus and I would like to thank to my coach Jay Stone and my mum for all the support and guidance to be able to achieve this dream.
“Thanks also to my father Scott and brother Austin as well as everyone else for supporting me over in Fiji.
“A huge thanks goes to everybody that was involved with fundraising for the Armidale Athletics club to help the members of the Viper squad who were selected to compete in Fiji. The support was overwhelming.”
