Interview: Lisa Lightfoot

Interview with an Olympian

Name: Lisa Lightfoot
Victoria, Australia
Australian Olympic Team
Track and Field

1. How does it make you feel to be on the 1996 Olympic Team for your country?

"Very good"....."It really pays off after all the hard work"....."The Olympics is the highest standard in competition, so it's quite a compliment and a privilege."

2. When you were a kid did you ever expect to be where you are today? Did you have goals to participate in the Olympics or to even have a career in sports?

"I always wanted to, it's always been a dream to run"....." I started very young and it is something that I love to do"....."A year ago, I never would have expected to have the honor of actually participating in the Olympic Games"....."It's always been a fantasy."

3. How old were you when you started competing in track and field events? How did you get started?

"I started to run when I was six"....."As a kid I was in a local running club. In America you have Little Leagues for baseball, we have Little League Athletics"....."I began competing at fourteen."

4. Does it seem confusing or unfair that the Olympics are done in the northern hemisphere's time, so that you compete during your winter in the Summer Olympics this year? And do you know if the Sydney 2000 Olympics will be held in the Northern Hemisphere's summer or that of the Southern Hemisphere ?

"Yes it is complicated"....."We had our Olympic Trials back in March and have had to train since"....."We were in Europe for three weeks"..... "The Sydney Games will be held around September, which is our fall and near the ending of your summer. It's the month with the fairest weather, or least amount of rainfall."

5. How long have you been training in the U.S.?

"I've only been here three days"....."I did live in America when I went to college in Nebraska and was on the running team there"....."I've been to America five times before."

6. After the Olympics are over, are you planning to do any sight-seeing or staying in America for a while before heading home?

"No, not this time. I'm a lawyer and I have to go straight to work right after!"

7. Do you have access to e-mail at home? If so, would you be willing to answer questions sent to you from kids all over the world and having them posted on the Internet?

"I don't have it at home, but I do at work. Only I don't think that I could get a lot of e-mail at work"....."I very much would like to, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to. I could if I had it at home, but I don't have a computer at home."

*****If you want to write to Lisa Lightfoot, send us your letter or e-mail to: caroline_mccullen@ncsu.edu*****

Back for More Interviews

Interview on June 10, 1996
Interview and page by Ellen Whisler and Kari Zander
Ligon GT Middle School, 706 East Lenoir St.
Raleigh, North Carolina, 27615