Jake Birtwhistle tells Riverside Primary School about competing in next month's Commonwealth Games

When Birtwhistle attended his primary school athletics carnival as a Grade 10 helper from Riverside High, Mrs Bovill halted the events and told pupils he was destined to grace a future Commonwealth or Olympic Games.

“Jake does not remember me saying it, but I definitely did,” she said on Wednesday as the 23-year-old returned to talk about competing on the Gold Coast next month.

Birtwhistle, who said he could vaguely remember the incident, happily shared his life story in the grounds where his sporting achievements began. 

Still in possession of many of the primary and high school running records, Birtwhistle, who also attended Launceston College, reminisced about his youth and development into an elite runner and under-23 triathlon world champion.

Tackling tough left-field questions like “Do you eat chocolate?”, “When will your career end?” and how he met his girlfriend and school teacher Amelia Wyllie, Birtwhistle explained how he turned around the disappointment of controversially missing the 2016 Olympic Games to earn Commonwealth selection.

“It’s really exciting for me,” he said.

“Ever since I started watching sport I’ve always dreamed of competing for Australia and this is my first time at a major Games like this.

“With all sport you have ups and downs and the biggest disappointment for me was missing out on the Olympics. At the time I was the No.1 ranked Australian triathlete but unfortunately did not make the team which I was surprised about and disappointed.

“It really hurt and made it hard to stay motivated and keep going but I put my head down and becoming the first Australian selected for the Commonwealth Games in any sport was a great reward.”

Launceston-born Birtwhistle told Grade 6 pupils about his training regime, diet, hobbies, injuries, sponsors, smelly podium champagne and an international travel schedule which finds him on a rare visit home between engagements in Abu Dhabi and Bermuda followed by Europe and North America.

“Riverside is still where I live but I spend nine months of the year living out of a suitcase,” he said. “I’ve got to the point where I struggle to count all the countries I’ve been to.”

He showed them over his race bike, signed autographs, posed for pictures and earned the biggest cheer when he said he had been a member of Thompson house.

Asked how he would sum up his lifestyle in one word, Birtwhistle said “hectic”.

He will contest the individual triathlon, over the sprint distances of 750-metre swim, 20km ride and 5km run, at Southport Broadwater Parklands on Thursday, April 5, after which national selectors will pick the mixed relay team to compete two days later.