Nobody did the heptathlon better than gold-medallist Niki Oudenaarden at the Legion Canadian Youth Track and Field Championships.
Last weekend at the Terry Fox athletic facility in Ottawa, the 16-year-old phenom scored a personal best 5,124 points, eclipsing the Canadian U18 youth and Legion national records.
“I’m really surprised and satisfied. I didn’t really think I would get over 5,000 but my training really paid off,” said the Edmonton Olympic Track and Field Club performer.
The Canadian U18 record of 4,928 was set in 2005 by Brianne Theisen and the Legion national mark of 4,822 was held by Farrah Kohorst since 1999.
The heptathlon is a gruelling combined events contest based on point totals from results in the 100 metre hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200m, long jump, javelin and 800m.
“What I did at Legion nationals will boost my confidence a lot for future heptathlons,” said the provincial U18 record holder, the top seed in the event at 4,923. “It will really help get my flag into the ground, as my coach [Linda Blade] calls it, because more schools will notice you, you can maybe get carding and it will help people to recognize your talents.”
At the awards ceremony the Grade 11 Paul Kane High School student wasn’t aware of the magnitude of her accomplishment.
“I was just so excited to get over 5,000 so it didn’t really occur to me. It was just, ‘Wow! I did this. I’m here at Legion nationals and I was able to meet my goals and standards.’”
Unfortunately, according to Athletics Alberta, her record score will not go into the record books because of illegal winds of 4.7 metres per second during the 100m hurdles and long jump. However, her 42.02m effort in javelin will stand as a new Alberta record for U16 females.
“What I did in javelin got me a lot of points [706]. I think that is what caused me to get the gold medal,” said Oudenaarden, who is closing in on 10 provincial age-group outdoor records in her budding track career.
She stuck the spear at 38.58m and 34.04m before her record-breaking toss.
“I really wanted to break 40 in javelin and on that last throw I had people go, ‘Come on, you can do it. Break a 40.’ My coach kept encouraging me and said, ‘This is your last throw. You can do it,’” she said. “As soon as I threw it out of my hand I could just feel all the power I put into it and seeing it soar that far was just amazing.”
On the eve of Legion nationals, Oudenaarden expressed disappointed over her previous heptathlon scores, despite a solid fourth-place showing at junior nationals.
“Everything just clicked really well this time and I’m really not all that positive why. I think we were trying to peak all of my performances so they would hopefully meet the standards for this meet,” she said. “I guess it was the adrenaline rush of being at Legion nationals that did it because this is where stuff really starts to count.”
Finishing a close second to Oudenaarden out of 12 competitors was Zarria Storm of British Columbia at 5,006, which also surpassed the Canadian U18 and Legion national records. She was seeded second at 4,712.
“The competition was very strong. There was one or two girls that I’ve never seen before but all of them posed as threats,” Oudenaarden said. “We had girls there that were at junior nationals. Zarria Storm got second this time but at junior nationals she got third. She is a very strong competitor who is absolutely amazing to try and compete with.”
In addition to finishing first in javelin, Oudenaarden was the winner in shot put (10.31m), long jump (5.82m) and in section 2 of the 200m (25.26 seconds). She also placed fourth in section 2 of the 100m hurdles (14.85) and the high jump (1.56m after an unsuccessful attempt at 1.59m) and was fifth in the 800m (2:32.76).
“My hurdles went really well because I’m used to doing juvenile heights and that is a little bit higher so with this lower height I got a faster time. It just felt more natural.”
Oudenaarden’s last meet before Legion nationals was westerns in late July in Winnipeg. In the youth division she concentrated on individual events and won gold in shot put (10.78m), javelin (37.96m) and discus (29.92m) and was the silver medallist in the 100m hurdles (15.00 was a PB).
This year’s heptathlon medal was Oudenaarden’s second at Legion nationals in three trips with Team Alberta. As a first-year midget in 2008 Legion she placed fifth overall in the U17 heptathlon. Last year she was awarded bronze in the U15 shot put (12.18m).
“I really couldn’t have done what I did without all the coaches who have been there and helped me along the way, as well as my family and friends that have supported me,” said the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association record holder in the Grade 10 junior long jump at 5.75m.
Oudenaarden also benefitted from a big cheering section in Ottawa to witness her gold-medal feat.
“My uncle [Ed Dover] was there too. He flew out on the Friday just to watch me compete for the two days and then he flew back home. It was amazing to have him there.”
