Josh Haslam hates sitting around.
Fiercely competitive by nature, Haslam recently won gold in the
midget boys' discus at the 2006 OFSAA Track and Field
Championships.
He also won the Sudbury city championship and NOSSA title
for the same event.
What makes his wins so exceptional is he did it with a
cracked bone in his femur.
Back in April, Haslam was practicing a punt kick for the
Lo-Ellen Park High School football team junior camp. He felt a
strong pull in his leg and went to the hospital to find out he
had cracked a bone in his femur that holds the muscle on the
massive leg bone.
"It hurt...a lot," said Haslam. "I could walk, but I
couldn't lift my leg at all. I went to physiotherapy and took
it easy for a month."
Because of his size (six-foot-two) and great athletic
ability, Lo-Ellen track coaches and the school's principal
urged Haslam to take up the sport of discus.
He did and hasn't looked back.
"I just hate sitting around doing nothing," said the
15-year-old. "I am really competitive and I love sports. It
turned out OK for me."
Despite nursing the injury at the city and NOSSA
championships, Haslam still took home gold both times, and also
set a new NOSSA record. The injury was still lingering slightly
at OFSAA, but it didn't affect him much.
"I was hurt at cities and NOSSA," said the Grade 9 student.
"I couldn't spin as fast. I said to everyone that it didn't
hurt, but it did. It felt pretty good to win the gold medals.
It was really amazing to win NOSSA and then OFSAA. It's great
to be ranked number one in Ontario."
At OFSAA, Haslam had average throws, by his standards, in the preliminary round. In the final round, he exploded.
Haslam's final two throws went a distance of 47-metres and
49.02-metres. In the preliminary, he was tossing in the mid to
low 40s.
"I was nervous in the first round," said Haslam. "I didn't
want to fault and not make the Top 8. Once I had made the final
eight, I threw as hard as I could and it was enough to win. I
throw better under pressure. I don't know why, I just do. I was
surprised and it was crazy."
Lo-Ellen track coach Colin Ward watched, with amazement, at
Haslam's dramatic rise to the top.
"At OFSAA...Josh was finally healthy and it all came
together for him," said Ward. "His two best throws came
at the end of the OFSAA competition. He really seems to throw
better under pressure. His technique is getting better all the
time. He's a natural at the sport and very talented."
Haslam is now setting his sights on the Canadian Legion regional track meet on June 17. He hopes to win the discus event there and move onto the provincial Legion track meet in July, and then the national Legion meet.
