PARIS Olympics bronze medallist Matt Denny gave the next generation of young athletes at Wynnum Manly Little Athletics a few tips on a visit to the club on Saturday.
The club was named Coles Little Athletics Metro Centre of the Year 2025 and Denny, as Coles ambassador, has been dropping in to junior athletics clubs as Little Athletics ramps up for the summer in Queensland.
The champion discus thrower recently returned home to Queensland after another stellar season overseas, which included coming within centimetres of claiming the world record (he now holds the third furthest throw of all time) and a fourth placing at the World Athletics Championships in September.
Wynnum Manly was awarded the national title of Little Athletics Metro Centre of the Year 2025 by Little Athletics Australia for its outstanding contribution to developing young athletes and promoting fun, family and fitness.
The award includes a $2000 Coles gift card to help stock the centre’s canteen and support local athletes this season.
Aspiring athletes and community volunteers will benefit from $250,000 in grants this season from the Coles Little Athletics Community Fund as Little Athletics record a major jump in participation numbers.
Under the program, 72 grassroots Little Athletics Centres will share in $250,000 to purchase sports, safety and volunteer equipment, including high jump mats, defibrillators and laptops.
The announcement comes as Little Athletics Australia revealed a 16 per cent jump in participation over the past 12 months, with the biggest increase recorded in the Little Athletics Tiny Tots program for 3 to 5-year-olds, which rose by 33 per cent.
In the past five seasons, Little Athletics has grown by more than 40 per cent to over 96,000 children and a further 74,000 community volunteers, coaches and officials, making it one of the most participated junior sports programs in Australia.
A significant contributor to this surge in participation was Australia’s success at the Paris Olympics.
