ATHLETE CV Prepared for: Brian Taylor Memorial Trust By James Preston

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1 ATHLETE CV Prepared for: Brian Taylor Memorial Trust By James Preston Bellow: Heat 5 of IAAF U20 World Championships. James Preston beating NZ Men s 800m and 1500m Champions at Porrit Classic in February

2 Background I am a 19-year-old middle distance athlete primarily specialising in 800m/1500m. I have been involved in athletics for a number of years after first starting out participating in children s athletics. I recently travelled to the World Junior Track and Field Championship in Bydgoszcz, Poland to represent New Zealand. This was my first major championship meet outside of Australasia. Here I set a new national record and made the semi-final. At present, I am devoting my time to pursue my dream of representing New Zealand at the highest level, as well as completing a degree in Architecture at Victoria University of Wellington. Bellow: Auckland Track Challenge 2016, 5th Place elite men

3 Why I will Succeed I believe I will succeed because I have a great support team around me! I am currently coached by an up and coming middle distance coach (been coaching less than 2 years) Evan Cooper, we have a great relationship and I have faith in his ability to get the most out of me. His knowledge and experience are second to none and he has really helped me transform from a local athlete to international, he is prepared to give everything to see me succeed and he works harder than anyone I know. An example of this has been in the build up to world juniors, not only has he coached me over this period, but he has stepped in as my training partner to aid in preparation for these championships. I am also supported by a great squad which encompasses the best junior and senior athletes in Wellington; we have a number of Wellington champions and National medallists. This allows me to be able to train with athletes of similar abilities which means we can get the maximum out of every day. I have the support of the national athletics body Athletics New Zealand. They have recently included me in their Pathway to Podium squad in April, which will help me develop further as an athlete and supplement what I am already doing to help me achieve my goals. Lastly, my family is my greatest supporter of all; they are backing me all the way to achieving my dreams which further motivates me to reach them. Bellow: Local Wellington Relay with other members of my training group.

4 Goals Over the next few years, I want to further my results from the 2015/2016 summer and continue competing and achieving well at both a national and international level. For my 2017 season this will be my first season in the open men s age grade, here I want to make a statement here at a national level by winning the national men s 800m title in my first year of competing in this age grade. In terms of international events, I want to make the New Zealand team that travels to the World University Games. To qualify for this team, I must achieve a performance standard within the qualifying period, in 2015 the B standard was 1:49.00 and the A was 1: I have already achieved the A standard so I will need to run this once more during the qualifying period. Also during the 2017 season, I will look to compete over in Australia in the 800m and potentially the 1500m events, I will look to race in the classic meets and the Australian Championships. For 2018 my goal is to make the Commonwealth Games team. With how I have progressed in the 2015/2016 summer I believe this is a very achievable goal. For this event like the world university games, a performance standard must be achieved with these being 1:47.0 for the B standard and 1:45.30 for the A standard (this was taken from the 2014 policy). With the B standard being only two seconds faster than my current personal best a B standard at least is a very achievable and realistic goal with the right preparation over the next two years. Looking further into the future my goals aren t quite as concrete as those I the 2016/2017 seasons, although I definitely have the Olympic Games and IAAF World Championships as a longer term goal.

5 iaaf U20 CHAMPIONSHIPS Recently, after being named in the New Zealand team for the World U20 Championships where I travelled to Poland to compete. Coming into the championships I was ranked 27th out of the 33 competitors. After qualifying first in heat 5 I progressed through to the semi-finals. In the semis, I was placed in the strongest heat, which would end up providing the two fastest losers for the final. In the semi-final, I placed 7th in a time of 1:48.06 which wasn t enough to make the final but was a new U20 National record and gave me an overall placing of 13th, this being the second highest by a New Zealand Junior in the 800m event. The difference between my ranking going into the event and my final placing begins to explore my potential for the following years. Backing this up is that every race in the 2015/2016 ran a personal best (excluding New Zealand Secondary Schools and New Zealand Track and Field championships which were championship races). This aids in showing why I will succeed in the following years. Bellow: Preparation for IAAF U20 Championships, being paced by coach Evan Cooper

6 Notable results 2015/2016 New Zealand U20 800m Record Holder (1:48.06) 13th IAAF World Junior Championships m 1st, 2016 New Zealand Track and Field Championships 800m U20 (1:50) 1st, x400m New Zealand Track and Field Championships (Wellington record) 5th, 2016 Auckland Track Challenge Men s 1500m 1st, 2016 Porritt Classic Men s 800m (1:48.92, Wellington record, joint distance athlete of the meet with Malcolm Hicks) 4th, 2016 Potts Classic Elite 800m (1:52) 1st, 2015 New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletics Association Athletics Championships 800m (fastest qualifier in both heats and semi-finals) New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletics Association Cross country team (2014, 2015) 2015 North Island 800m Champion 2015 College Sport Wellington Champion (Cross Country, Road Race, 800m, 1500m) 2015 Wellington U20 Road Race Champion 2016 Finalist for emerging athlete of the year Wellington Sports Awards 2015 College Sport Wellington Cross Country/Road Athlete of the year 2016 Currently a member of Pathway to Podium Bellow: Porritt Classic 2016, 1st Place Open men s 800m

7 Race Videos NZSSAA 800m 1st Place Senior Boys: 1:53 (Senior Boys 800m Final NZSS Track and Field) Porritt Classic 800m 1st Place Open Men: 1:48 (Porritt Classic Men s 800m) NZT&F Champs 800m 1st Place Men u20: 1:51 (Men Under m - NZ T&F Champs 2016) IAAF U20 800m 1st place Heat 5 (2016 IAAF World Junior Championships men s 800m Heat 5) 7th place semi-final 1 (2016 IAAF World Junior Championships 800m semi 1)

8 Futher Reading Bellow: With Coach Evan Cooper after IAAF U20 World Championships.