Wairarapa athletes to compete in Australian festival

Two Wairarapa athletes are amongst the 177-strong team which will represent New Zealand at the fourth Australian Youth Olympic festival to be held in Sydney from January 17 to 21 next year.
They are Chris Atkinson (slalom canoe-kayak) and Elizabeth Perry (hockey) , both of whom have already made a huge impact on the national stage in their particular sporting endeavours.
More than 1500 athletes from 20 nations will take part in the festival and they will compete in 16 Olympic sports.
New Zealand's contingent, the ages of whom range from 12 to 19, will be involved in 14 different sports over the five days.
Chef de Mission of their team is two times Commonwealth Games gold medallist in Manchester 2002 for weightlifting, Nigel Avery, who is currently the general manager of sport at the Millennium Institute of Sport and Health.
Avery said he was very proud to be part of the New Zealand line-up and excited about the prospects in Sydney..
"The festival provides some of New Zealand's most talented sporting youth an amazing stepping stone to compete against world class opposition in our own back yard," he said..
The five day competition will see 190 events take place at venues utilised for the 2000 Sydney Olympics and aims to emulate an Olympic Games experience.
The aspiring Olympians will experience life in the Olympic village, drug education, the opening ceremony and its protocols, including the lighting of the Olympic flame, flying the Olympic flag, the Parade of Nations and the Olympic oath and the excitement and emotion of medal ceremonies.