About the Book

  Lucy willed herself to run faster. But the girl was sprinting ahead of her! This can’t be happening, she thought.

  Lucy loves being a champion at Little Athletics. But what if she can’t win first place?

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Lucy stepped up to the starting line, ready to race. This was her favourite competition in Little Athletics – the 70-metre sprint.

  Lucy loved to run. And she could go really, really fast. She was so fast that she always won.

  But winning wasn’t too hard when she was running against her friends Emma, Joe and Stefan.

  They were just there to have fun.

  ‘I’m going to run as fast as a cheetah,’ Emma said. ‘That’s the fastest land animal on earth. Raaarrr!’

  ‘It can’t beat a machine,’ said Joe. ‘I’m going to run as fast as an awesome motorbike. VRRROOOOOM!’

  Stefan laughed. ‘Good luck beating me. I’m a running robot with rocket-powered legs.’

  Lucy rolled her eyes.

  The starter blew the whistle. ‘Get into your lanes,’ she called. ‘On your marks . . . Set . . .’

  BANG!

  And they were off!

  Lucy bolted. She left the cheetah, the motorbike and the running robot far behind.

  But at the 40-metre mark, she noticed that another runner was right beside her.

  It was a new kid – a girl she had never raced against before.

  The parents on the sidelines were cheering loudly.

  Lucy willed herself to run faster than ever. But she couldn’t break away.

  In seconds, the girl was sprinting ahead of her.

  This can’t be happening, thought Lucy.

  Her legs were beginning to feel heavy and wobbly. But the finishing line was only a few metres away. Keep going, she told herself. You can do it!

  Lucy raced until she was next to the new girl. It was going to be a close finish . . .

  But the new girl beat Lucy to the finishing line.

  Lucy couldn’t believe it. This was the first time she had been beaten, and it didn’t feel good. Not one bit.

  ‘What an awesome race,’ said Emma. ‘I was like whoooosh! And Joe was like vrroooom! And Stefan was like beep-boop-beep-boop! Joe and I came equal fourth, and Stefan came in sixth. And you ran second – which is amazing.’

  ‘But I didn’t win,’ said Lucy.

  She looked over at her dad. He was waving to her from the sidelines.

  ‘You ran even faster than last time!’ he said, giving her a huge hug. ‘You should be very proud of yourself.’

  But Lucy just sighed.

  ‘Come on,’ said Joe. ‘They’re calling us for shot-put. Let’s go.’

  Lucy was determined to win the shot-put. It wasn’t her best event, but she usually did pretty well.

  ‘I’m totally going to win this,’ she said to Joe.

  She picked up the shot and stepped into the circle. She tucked the shot beside her chin, pointed her other arm out, and threw.

  The shot landed with a thud in the soggy grass. It was a really good throw.

  ‘5.71 metres,’ said the official.

  Lucy had broken her own record for the second time that day. And she was in the lead.

  Her dad gave her a thumbs up.

  Emma and Joe ran over to congratulate her.

  Stefan stepped up to the circle.

  Lucy could tell he was pretending to be a cannon on a pirate ship. Every time he threw the shot he’d shout, ‘KABOOM!’

  The only one left was the new kid.

  ‘OOOOOMPH!’ she grunted as she threw the shot.

  ‘5.75 metres,’ said the official.

  Lucy couldn’t believe it. The new girl was in first place again!

  The long jump was the last event of the day, and Lucy was focussed on winning it.

  When it was the new girl’s turn, she bolted down the run-up track and took a huge leap forward.

  Lucy could tell it was an awesome leap, even before the new girl landed in the sand.

  It was the longest jump of the day.

  ‘I’ll have to jump the longest I’ve ever jumped,’ she said to Stefan as she waited to take her run up. ‘I’ve got to beat that new kid.’

  ‘Charlotte!’ said Stefan.

  ‘What?’ Lucy asked.

  ‘The new kid. Her name’s Charlotte,’ Stefan said. ‘I talked to her after the shot-put. She’s just moved here from another state.’

  Lucy wished that Charlotte had stayed there.

  Lucy sprinted down the runway and timed her run perfectly.

  Her front right foot hit the centre of the take-off board, and she launched herself into the air.

  SWOOOOOSH!

  She landed in the sand pit, kicking up sand around her.

  It felt like a good jump.She looked up at the official. Had she beat Charlotte? Had she won?

  ‘3.40 metres!’ said the official.

  Lucy felt like crying. She’d come second again.

  ‘Cheer up,’ said Joe. ‘You beat your own record three times today. And Charlotte is taller than you. I never ever win but I love Little Athletics.’

  Lucy nodded, but she still felt terrible.

  Then she heard the music of an ice-cream van . . .

  Other kids had heard the music, too. Lots of them were running towards the van.

  ‘Hey, Dad – catch!’ Lucy called out. She threw her sports bag towards him.

  The bag flew even further than Lucy’s shot-put throw!

  But she was already racing.

  She bolted across the oval. There were long lines of witches hats on the sidelines.

  Without thinking she took an awesome leap and cleared them.

  Lucy shot through the main gates of the athletics field.

  She ran along the footpath.

  She could see the giant colourful pictures of delicious ice-cream painted on the side of the van.

  Finally the van stopped on the side of the road.

  Lucy was out in front.

  But then she heard someone running close behind her.

  She glanced back. ‘NO WAY!’ she said.

  It was Charlotte!

  She’s not going beat me this time, Lucy thought. She picked up speed.

  She was running faster than she had ever run.

  Within seconds she had reached the ice-cream truck. She was first in line!

  Lucy shot her arms up in the air. She felt as if she had won an Olympic gold medal.

  Then she remembered what it was like to come second. Charlotte was going to be miserable!

  Lucy turned around to see if she was okay.

  But Charlotte was grinning. She didn’t look upset at all.

  ‘You’re an awesome runner,’ she said. ‘How cool is Little Athletics?’

  Lucy was surprised. ‘Aren’t you mad that you lost?’ she said.

  Charlotte shrugged. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I just love running. And I love Little Athletics. But, don’t tell anyone – the starter pistol freaks me out sometimes.’

  ‘No way!’ said Lucy. ‘It freaks me out too!’

  ‘Do you want to hang out together next week after we race?’ asked Charlotte.

  For the first time that day, Lucy smiled.

  She didn’t even care that other kids were buying their ice-creams first.

  ‘That would be awesome,’ she said.

  ‘What would you like, girls?’ asked the ice-cream man.

  ‘Oh, no!’ said Lucy. ‘I forgot to get money from my dad.’

  ‘I forgot too,’ said Charlotte. ‘I’m going back…Want to race?’

  ‘You bet!’ Lucy grinned.

  ‘On your marks . . . Set . . . GO!’

  Not everyone wants to be an Olympic champion, some kids just like to have fun.

  Lucy really wants to win and it’s great to be competitive, but sometimes when you’re relaxed and enjoying yourself, you can achieve even more.

  My favourite track and field events are running, long jump and shot-put.

  The heavy ball in shot-put is called a shot.

  Here’s how to throw like an Olympian:

  Hold the shot at the base of your fingers, not in your palm. Bend your hand backwards with your fingers slightly apart.

  Place the shot into your neck, and point your palm in the direction you’ll be throwing.

  Step back and bend your knees and hips.

  Push the shot up and away from you.

  Other track and field events include discus, hurdles and triple jump. So get out there and have some fun at Little Athletics!

  What type of shoes are made from banana skins?

  Slippers!

  Did you hear about the race between the lettuce and the tomato?

  The lettuce was a head and the tomato was trying to ketchup.

  What did the long jump say to the high jump?

  Hi, Jump!

  Two waves had a race. Who won?

  They tide!

  Why was the girl called Saturn so good at athletics?

  She could run rings around everyone.

  Knock, Knock.

  Who’s there?

  Dozen.

  Dozen who?

  Dozen anybody want to race?

  What is a runner’s favourite subject in school?

  Jog-raphy!

  How do athletes stay cool?

  They stand ne ar the fans.

  Did you know?

  Around 100,000 kids compete all across Australia every weekend in Little Athletics.

  The first track and field events were staged in Greece at the first Olympics in 776BC.

  The stick that runners hand to each other in a relay is called a baton.

  Australia has produced many world champion athletes, including Ron Clarke, Betty Cuthbert, Robert De Castella, Herb Elliot, Cathy Freeman and Shirley Strickland.

  Usain Bolt is the fastest person on earth. He holds the world record for the 100-metre and 200-metre sprint

  The decathlon is an event that combines ten track and field events – four running events, three throwing events and three jumping events.

  To compete in the triple jump event you need to know how to hop, step and jump.

  The marathon is a long-distance event – marathon runners run for 42 kilometres.

  A starting block is the piece of equipment used by sprint athletes to hold their feet at the start of a race.

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  First published by Penguin group (Australia), 2015

  This edition published by Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd, 2017

  Text copyright © Red Wolf Entertainment Pty Ltd, 2015

  Illustrations copyright © Tom Jellett, 2015

  The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted.

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  Design by Tony Palmer © Penguin Group (Australia)

  penguin.com.au

  ISBN: 978-1-76014-658-0

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