Olympic silver medallist Jared Tallent and his wife Claire during their visit to Black Hill Primary School.
TWO Ballarat Olympians took time out from their celebrations from the 2012 games to meet school pupils yesterday.
Walkers Jared and Claire Tallent arrived home from the London Games on Monday and dropped in at Black Hill Primary School yesterday.
The local primary school has spent the past few weeks following the Aussie athletes’ progress and have been studying up on the word ‘stamina’ in preparation for the Tallents’ visit.
More than 500 pupils clapped and cheered as the Ballarat-born Jared Tallent spoke about his journey into race walking and his dream as a kid to one day be an Olympian.
“It was a long road to get to the London Olympics,” Jared said.
“I was really proud to represent my country and to be a part of the 410 Australian Olympic athletes.”
The Tallents also spoke about the sacrifices they made to reach the world stage and hope to inspire pupils to try all different kinds of sports when they’re young.
“Sport has taken me all over the world and I would have never seen these places if it wasn’t for sport,” Jared said.
