Athletics and Canoe/Kayak Take WA Numbers to 31

Four athletics and two canoe/kayak selections in the past 24 hours have seen the number of Western Australian athletes officially named on the 2008 Australian Olympic Team jump to 31.

Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) athletes Kylie Wheeler, Paul Burgess and Steve Hooker were all named in the Athletics Section, alongside New South Wales Institute of Sport supported West Australian John Steffensen, while fellow WAIS athletes Robin Bell and Lisa Oldenhof were named in the Canoe/Kayak Section. All of the six have previous Olympic experience, with Burgess and Bell becoming triple Olympians in Beijing having represented Australia in Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004).

25-year old Hooker and 29-year old Burgess  are both considered medal chances in the Men’s Pole Vault, with the pair being members of the exclusive six metre club. They also finished the 2006 season ranked as number one and number two in the world respectively.

30-year old Bell is another who is a strong chance to feature on the dais in Beijing in the Men’s C1 Slalom Canoeing event after last weekend claiming gold in the final World Cup meet of the season. The Sydney-based paddler is also a former world champion, having taken home the title in 2005.

The Canoe/Kayak Section will also be home to 28-year old Oldenhof, who will paddle in the Women’s K4 – 500m event, while Wheeler and Steffensen will be members of the Athletics Section for the Women’s Heptathlon and Men’s 400m respectively.

Full biographies of the athletics and canoe/kayak athletes are available on the AOC’s official website – http://www.olympics.com.au/Athletes/TheTeam/tabid/343/Default.aspx?link=343&tabid=343 &. A full listing of all official WA selections is also available at www.olympics.com.au/wa .