Intro
The 15-year-old has collected gold in the 400m, 800m and 400m hurdles at the WA State Championships, silver in the under 18 400m hurdles at the Australian All Schools Championships and gold in the under 17 800m.
While a family record does make for good dinner table banter, Ginger’s focus is set firmly on the track.
‘I mainly focus on technique and what I need to do to get a good result,’ she said.
But when pressed if it would be nice to have the bragging rights over her coach and mother, there was a hint of natural family competition.
‘Well, I mean, it would,’ she said with a laugh.
Ginger’s mother Rebecca holds state records in 400m hurdles and 400m for under 18s and is delighted to now have the opportunity to pass on her experience to her daughter.
‘Being in a small town with no other coaches, I sort of fell into it,’ Mrs Gleeson said.
‘As a mum I’m super proud, I know how much effort it takes to get to Ginger’s level, so seeing her drive is really great.’
The Gleeson family is supported through the WA Government’s Regional Athlete Support Program, delivered locally through the Great Southern Academy of Sport.
‘I have a coaching scholarship through the Great Southern Academy of Sport and Ginger has an athlete scholarship,’ she said.
‘This has been invaluable in helping me on my coaching journey…the impact it has on athletes, not just current scholarship holders, but so many kids down here aspire to get into the program and it’s just a really positive thing to see.’
Recently, Ginger claimed 2 golds during the nationals meet in the Brisbane and is now Australian champion in both the U18 400m hurdles and U17 400m.
If you’re a talented athlete between the age of 13-21 living in regional WA you may be eligible to be part of our Regional Athlete , to help you excel in high-performance pathways.
We also support regional athletes with travel subsidies via the Athlete Travel Subsidy Scheme.