Top runner now a globetrotter

By Rebecca Fraser
FORMER Berwick athlete Alison Chiu has notched up that many passport stamps in the past decade that she would even make a television reporter on Getaway jealous.
The 27yearold now lives in Connecticut and works with GE consumer finance as a global change management leader and regularly travels the globe for both work and sport.
Ms Chiu recently travelled through seven time zones in two weeks and said she had visited many beautiful and exotic locations such as Prague, Mexico, Budapest, Thailand and Japan.
But despite her hectic work schedule, the former St Margaret’s student and top junior athlete said she still had time for sport and continued to compete in triathlons and track events.
The Gazette spoke to Ms Chiu in 1995 as she prepared to jet off to Europe’s Junior Track and Field Championships.
South East Newspapers (now Star News Group) also helped launch a fundraising appeal to help pay for the trip where Ms Chiu competed at athletic meets in Ireland, Great Britain and Italy.
Once ranked Australia’s number one junior for the 800metre event, Alison was also one of the youngest runners in the Australian athletics team.
In 1995, Alison said she believed the trip would be a great stepping stone towards her ultimate goal of representing Australia at the 2000 Olympics and expressed her desire to win an Olympic medal
Miss Chiu said she had taken a brief break from training to complete her university studies but was now back competing.
“I had a break from athletics when I was at university choosing to focus on academic studies,” she said.
“I completed an Honours degree in Exercise Physiology and Nutrition at the University of Melbourne,” she said.
She said she had also come close to qualifying for the Atlanta Olympics and had missed out on the trials for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney because of injury.
“I was about a second outside qualifying for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics,” she said.
“I took the year off in 2000 to try to qualify for Sydney.
“I was racing in track cycling for three months and had qualified for the 3000 pursuit however I had a bad crash in the 2000 Olympic trials.
“I had a third degree separation of my shoulder (AC joint) and had bad concussion leaving me in bed for 20 hours a day for five weeks,” she said.
Miss Chiu said she now enjoyed competing in triathlons.
“I have now focussed on triathlon and multi sport, competing in local events (racing Elite) such as Gatorade Series and IMG Series, Accenture races, and competed in the last three World Triathlon Championship events.
“My last result was 14th at the World Championships in Madeira , Portugal.
“I have only just started track and field again but my bike has not yet made it to the USA due to shipping delays.
“I recently raced in the USA National track and field corporate games in San Francisco in the 400m and 800m events.
“We won a silver medal and two gold medals GE won the National Corporate National Championships for the ninth consecutive year,” she said.
Ms Chiu said her family had now moved from Berwick to Doncaster but she still kept in contact with a few friends living in Casey. She said she tried to return home to Australia every six months.