DANIEL Williams has taken on Australia’s finest juniors and returned home a national champion.

The sixteen-year-old won both the Under 20 Men’s 1500m and Under 18 Boys 1500m titles at the 2024 Chemist Warehouse Australian Athletics Championships in Adelaide.

Despite giving away up to three years in experience and strength, the Hyland Park runner outpaced his rivals in the Under 20 event and crossed the line with a convincing winning margin.

Backing up six days later in the Under 18 event, the approach was a little different as he continually lifted the speed and moved away from the remainder of the field for an emphatic win that was also a new Championship Record, meaning no athlete has been that quick at any previous Under 18 national title.

His exceptional performances in Adelaide cap off a busy year for Williams, which saw him compete in Trinidad and Tobago at the Commonwealth Youth Games, regular racing at meets in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra, as well as managing Year 11 studies at Bishop Druitt College alongside patrolling the local beaches as a lifeguard in the holidays.

He is set for another busy twelve months, beginning with the Oceania Games in Fiji next month, the World Under 20 Athletics Championships in Peru this August, and then back on the track for another domestic racing season.

Williams outlined his goals for the upcoming international track meetings and the World Under 20 Athletics Championships.

“I need to remain realistic in Peru, as I will be among the youngest competitors there, so primarily running a personal best is step one, and hoping to make the 1500m final on the back of that,” he said.

“The objective over the past few years has been to achieve maximum return on minimum investment… not exhaust myself with long kilometres, and instead aim to get my top end speed as high as possible.”

To prepare for Peru, Williams focus in training will be all about leg speed and acceleration, working on the natural attributes that set him aside from some of the other runners who definitely accumulate a lot higher weekly mileage.

By Aiden BURGESS