CINCINNATI — The 40 West Elite Speed team is headed to the AAU Track and Field Junior Olympics.
Head coach Chip Wilson said 51 children and teens qualified to compete this year.
"Train insane you won’t remain the same, that's why you're a 40 West Elite speedster," Wilson said.
The competition will be held in Des Moines, Iowa. One of the children competing for the first time at the AAU Junior Olympics is 9-year-old Ava Bolling.
"I’m super excited because I feel like I’m going to win," Bolling said.
Bolling will compete in shot put and the long jump. She trains three days a week.
"You have to put a lot of effort into training," Bolling said. "Our coach makes us do two 400s and we put a lot of work and effort into training."
Tariq Coleman, 12, will compete in the 100, 200 and 400-meter dash. His goal is to come home with a medal, but he won’t be disappointed if he doesn’t win.
Coleman joined the team to become a faster football player, but he fell in love with running. Someone he looks up to is Usain Bolt.
"I look up to some of my teammates on the track and I look up to Usain Bolt because I want to be fast like him," Coleman said. "It was crazy because he ran like a 9.5 the first time I ever seen him run and then I started watching more after that."
Wilson said his team competes in various track meets throughout the year. All tracks eventually led to district competitions where the top 16 athletes go to regionals. From there, the top eight move onto the AAU Junior Olympics.
He added that his athletes improve with every track meet.
"All our kids on this team in each individual meet always had a personal best record every time they touched the track or the field events where they shot the disc or the long jump or the turbo javelin," he said.
Wilson said his athletes are ready to compete against the best track and field athletes in the country. He tells his team to "always trust your instincts and your coaching, don’t ever look back, look forward."
The 40 West leaves for Des Moines on July 31.
