BROWNS Plains little athletics champion Cody Freeman has proven type 1 diabetes is no barrier to performing at the Australian Little Athletics.
Cody was selected for the under-13 team for shot put and javelin in the Australian Little Athletics at the Gold Coast on April 24 to 25, one week after the Commonwealth Games.
Cody has trained in little athletics for four to five years and has consistently won medals at state level annually.
Despite having type 1 diabetes, known for causing excessive thirst, fatigue and blurry vision, Freeman has continued to outperform the best in his age group.
Cody’s mother, Karina Freeman, said she was proud of how far her son had come.
“Over the weekend he was struggling with the heat so we were impressed with how he did,” she said.
“Struggling with type 1 diabetes and competing at this level is pretty extraordinary.”
Cody’s little athletics ability has flowed on to support his broader sporting achievements, including soccer and rugby league
Cody said friendly competition within the Browns Plains little athletics centre helped him improve.
“I’ve been competing with my friend and we have a rivalry in discus and javelin. We go up against each other and make sure we are at our best performance,” he said.
Karina encouraged anyone with a sporting background to take up athletics.
“Athletics is a really good all-round sport. It is great for kids to compete as a team so they can push each other to be the best they can be and get personal bests each week,” she said.
