From the ultimate sporting event to volunteering with rural fire brigade
By Kirra Livingstone
OUR LOCAL Olympian, Haylie Powell, is back at home and reflecting on her life-changing experience competing in street skateboarding at the Paris Games.
The 18-year-old said she was blown away with the experience, especially meeting some of her sporting heroes, including tennis star Naomi Osaka. “I couldn’t believe the people I was seeing in the village, I saw Rafael Nadal, and I saw Simone Biles, which was a goal of mine,” Haylie said. “But my number one person I met and took pictures with was Naomi Osaka, we even traded Olympic pins.”
It was tough going for the Mooloolah teen, who fought through a debilitating elbow injury in her heats following a fall just hours prior during practice. Fearing she had fractured the bone, there was some relief that it was badly bruised and she was allowed to stay through to the closing ceremony. She finished 20th in her heat, but said being in Paris and representing Australia had been the greatest honour of her life.
“I was very proud of myself, that’s for sure,” Haylie said. “I put in a lot of hard work to get there. All the girls absolutely killed it. “The whole thing was just a great experience and all of us deserved to be there.”
Now Haylie is home, she is taking a break from skateboarding and will spend some time coaching at Chiggys Skateboarding.
She also recently signed up to volunteer for the Eudlo Rural Fire Brigade. “I decided to volunteer to the brigade because my dad works as a firefighter at the Sunshine Coast Airport,” she said. “I haven’t gotten the opportunity to help out yet, but they have been very supportive in my Olympic endeavours.”
The skateboarding Olympian is now weighing up whether or not she will compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. “I’m not saying no yet, but I just need a break from competitions,” she said. “My goal was to make it to the Paris Olympics, but I am still interested in going again!”
