LAUNCESTON hurdler Tyler Heron is about to follow in the footsteps of former world champion Jana Pittman.
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Like Pittman, the 24-year-old builder is swapping the athletics track for skeleton bobsled in a bid to make it all the way to the Winter Olympic Games.
Pittman was the first Australian female to compete in both the summer and winter Olympics when she contested in the two-woman bobsled in 2014 at Sochi.
If successful in completing the transition, Heron will become the first Tasmanian to represent the country in skeleton.
The ex-St Patrick’s College student jetted off to Whistler, Canada, on Thursday to participate in a two-week training camp under the auspices of Sliding Sports Australia.
He attended a national training camp in Sydney earlier this year and met the qualifying standards after doing some research and talking to Pittman at St Leonards Athletics track a month prior.
“Jana and a few of the other representatives including former Olympian Heath Spence was at the camp… and we had to meet certain speed and gym-based requirements in order to make it through to the next stage, which is where I’m at now,” Heron said.
“I’ll actually get to go down on the ice, get on a sled and go down the mountain for the first time and see how I go.
“It will be a new experience and I will probably have to fine tune a few things.”
Skeleton sees athletes slide head first down an icy track that drops 120 metres from top to bottom at speeds of up to 135 km/h.
The former 110m and 400m Tasmanian hurdles champion has twice represented Australia at the Oceania games and will invest in the equipment needed for skeleton “once the funds are up”.
If his learning expedition is a productive one Heron said he would return to North America to hone his skills.
“I’m just excited to have the opportunity at one of the most incredible high-speed sports,” Heron said.
“Skeleton relies on having a really fast sprint start, because the faster you can get the sled moving at the top, the faster you will get down the track.
“Because of the winter sports opportunity I have been putting time into more speed and power-based training – it’s been short and sharp.”
He said he was hoping to take up the sport long-term and become a rare “full-blown” Australian winter sports athlete.
The next Winter Olympics will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018 with Beijing to play host four years later.
Corey Martin
Having started at The Examiner as a cadet in 2009, I have held various positions telling the stories of Northern Tasmanians in sport and news. I was appointed deputy editor in 2019 and became editor in September 2021.
Having started at The Examiner as a cadet in 2009, I have held various positions telling the stories of Northern Tasmanians in sport and news. I was appointed deputy editor in 2019 and became editor in September 2021.
