Sprinter James Gallaugher is quicker than Usain Bolt at the same age. Source: Simon Bullard / News Limited
ATHLETICS Australia officials are finding it increasingly difficult to hose down expectations for the schoolboy sensation who is faster than a teenage Usain Bolt.
For all that effort it has been a fruitless exercise downplaying the weekend performance in Townsville of James Gallaugher whose 21.73secs for the 200m was a world best for his age group and 0.08sec quicker than the six-time Olympic champion ran as a 14-year-old.
So much can happen between the age of 13 and progressing to open ranks, but the young West Australian has so far justified his growing reputation in track and field.
"We don't want to put too much pressure on a 13-year-old," said national junior high performance manager Sara Mulkearns of Gallaugher who is coached by former Olympian Lyn Foreman at the WA Institute of Sport.
"He's in good hands and will definitely be a part of our junior programs.
"But he is pretty exciting."
Originally from the NSW southcoast, Gallaugher has been targeted by at least one NRL club but has previously indicated a preference for track and field.
He is one of a throng of confident young juniors marching towards selection for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Victorian high jumper Eleanor Patterson may not wait that long.
Eleanor Patterson could compete for Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow. Source: Supplied
No 17-year-old has jumped higher than her Australian All Schools Championship-winning jump of 1.96m, a height that would have won gold at the past three Commonwealth Games.
Barring injury, Patterson will skip next year's world junior titles in Eugene, Oregon, to jump for a Commonwealth title in Glasgow.
"I was hoping for a personal best but to come away with a performance like this is out of this world. It's so exciting, and I couldn't be happier," Patterson said.
Queensland finished second, behind NSW, in Townsville.
The team was led by thrower Matthew Denny, a teenage giant from Allora, on the Darling Downs, and Brisbane's Aliyah Johnson, both of whom qualified for the world juniors.
Discus world youth champion Denny won three individual gold medals - discus, hammer throw and shot put - and Johnson took out the under-18 triple jump.
Johnson, coached by long jump national record holder Bronwyn Thompson and Queensland Academy of Sports jumps guru Gary Bourne, jumped 13.15m, narrowly missing a qualifying mark for Glasgow.
Deaf sprinter Sekou Kanneh, 13, seized the moment to win the under-14 100m national title after Gallaugher was disqualified for a false start.
"I've been going to these titles for eight years and Townsville was the best I've been to," Mulkearns said.
"Some of these kids are very, very talented. Hopefully they'll shape the way through to Rio."
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