Next Generation

Jasmine Ng has been turning heads at competitions across the country since she took up athletics three years ago.

The 14-year-old competes in the 100m, 200m and long jump and has excelled since being asked to join the North Otago Athletic and Harrier Club by a friend in 2009.

Ng took gold in the 100m and 200m finals and a bronze in the 400m at the South Island Colgate Games in Timaru in 2010.

The speedster then defended her coveted sprinting titles in Dunedin the following year but decided to drop the 400m, despite her success, to have a go at long jump and high jump.

The pressure didn't affect the youngster as she cruised through the heats as top qualifier in the 100m and 200m, with clinical displays in the semifinals placing her as a red-hot favourite going into the final.

Gore's Emma Hopcroft offered stiff competition but Ng was too strong, going on to win the 100m in 13.06s and 200m in 26.76s.

The Waitaki Girls' High student finished just outside the medals in fourth in the long jump (4.44m) and placed 11th equal in the high jump in poor conditions.

The sprinter returned to the competition in January in Nelson, where she successfully defended her 100m crown and finished third in the 200m.

Ng then stamped her mark on school athletics, breaking her first Aoraki Secondary Schools Athletics record in Timaru with a time of 26.54s in the under-14 girls' 200m, blitzing the five year old record by half a second.

She added to her haul of medals with a gold in the 100m final (13.17s) and silver in the long jump (4.71m).

The young athlete is now looking ahead to the New Zealand Championships in December but realises it may be a tall order after suffering a hamstring injury.

"At the moment, I am really looking at the nationals as a pre-season training experience, as I haven't been able to race yet this season.

"I had been hoping to get into the finals for 100m at the nationals, so even making it to that level now would be great," she said.

Ng is also aiming high for the future, with a desire to one day compete at the Olympic Games.

"Getting to the IAAF World Junior Athletics Championships in Moncton, Canada, in 2016 is my main aim. I would also like to try and get into the next Olympics," she said.