My Story: Don Quinn - Australia

Don Quinn – My Story

I had competed in athletics in high school and university and enjoyed it very much. My wife and I moved from Sydney to a small Queensland mining town where the local athletics club allowed me to compete even though there were not many throwers at that time. A move to Brisbane saw the end of my athletics and competition squash took its place for over 20 years.

Squash as a sport was on the decline in Brisbane and fewer available teams would have seen me playing at too high a grade. Luckily at the age of 54 I saw the Queensland Masters Athletics (QMA) results in the newspaper and contacted the QMA President at the time (Wilma Perkins) about joining up. Right from my first competition I was delighted by the welcoming attitude of my fellow competitors and their willingness to offer me advice on how to throw. As I had not thrown the hammer in my youth and didn"t even know what the Weight was, this advice was invaluable. That fun (yet competitive) nature of my fellow competitors continues to provide me with much enjoyment.

As a thrower I have only been a very average competitor with distances a long way from the best in the world. A story that, for me, illustrates the ethos of masters athletics occurred at the World Masters Athletics Championships held in Brisbane in 2001. I finished ahead of only one thrower in the hammer but did manage to throw a Personal Best in doing so. When some of my overseas competitors learned of my PB I was heartily congratulated! My placing wasn"t the important issue – it was achieving personal goals that mattered. And so it continues to today.

Have I inspired anyone with my performances? I think unlikely, although it has given me a lot of pleasure to have given advice to a fellow thrower and seen them improve their distances. My inspiration comes from throwers like the late Ruth Frith and a current competitor who may say to me – I"ll pass the final rounds of the discus because I have to go to the 100m sprint – and that gentleman is 90 years old. As they say, it"s better to wear out than rust out.

The Masters Rankings have been a great motivation to try to get just that little bit better. As with most of us, I"m not aiming to get from Number 3 to Number 2. It"s all about saying, if I can throw just this much further, I will make it into the top 50 or 100 or 200 or even to move up the rankings by five places).

Through the eyes of others.

Don is greatly respected not only as an athlete and administrator but is also a lovely gentleman. Our sport is lucky to have him.

Don joined Queensland Masters Athletics (QMA) in 1999 and has been a member for 18 years. He has been a champion throws events competitor during that time. Don has been a helper for a lot of that time and now looks after the Men"s throws in particular on competition days

He has donned a Santa Claus suit for some of that time to arrive at our Brisbane Christmas Dinner and spread cheer. (Not a very fat Santa). Don often turns up with an outrageously red beard at club competitions.

He was a member of the QMA Committee in 2006/2007/2008, and was elected as President in 2009/2010, and is now a Committeeman for QMA Brisbane.

Don and his Wife, Noeline, run a Dog breeding establishment, and often let us know about the latest litter of papillions and other small dogs.

Don has held Queensland Records for the Throws Pentathlon, Heavy Weight Pentathlon and 56lbs Heavy Weight. He currently holds the Queensland Record for M60, M65 and M70 for both the Heavy Weight Pentathlon and for the 56lbs Heavy Weight.

Don"s knowledge and expertise on explaining data is excellent and he has been a fantastic support to administrators needing assistance in Excel. He explains by an orderly dot point method that make it so much easier for the user and this assistance has been so much appreciated. Don also assists with his affiliate"s national data base and with the statistics for presentation at the Australian Annual General Meeting. In more recent times, Don has helped develop and improve the WMA rankings lists & site including providing advice and technical expertise, supplying the Australian results in an appropriate format, contacting other national representatives, gathering results from other nations and promoting the site.