Riley Day (born 30 March 2000) is an Australian sprinter. She was selected for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and competed in the Women's 200 meters. Day came third in her heat and therefore qualified for the semi-final. She managed a time of 22:56, 0.43 of a second behind the winner Shelly-Ann Frazer-Pryce from

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

Early years

Riley began her athletics career at the age of nine, when she was entered into her local

Little Athletics Little Athletics is an Australian activity program that involves modified athletics events for children aged 3 to 16 in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territory); 3 ...

club in her hometown of Beaudesert, Queensland by her mother. In 2014 at the age of 14, Day ran her first sub-12 100m time. Two years later, in 2016, she ran 23.51 (200m) in the Queensland schools championships and also ran a wind-assisted 11.39 in the 100 meters. Two months later she ran 11.36 (100m) and 23.52 (200m), winning the National schools title.

Achievements

Riley entered the public eye through her performances at the 2017

Nitro Athletics Nitro Athletics was a track and field series featuring multi-day meetings between teams of twelve athletes. The teams contained both men and women and also para-athletics competitors. There are both national and international teams. The events con ...

series. She then competed at the

2017 Commonwealth Youth Games The 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games, officially known as the VI Commonwealth Youth Games, and commonly known as Bahamas 2017, or Nassau 2017, was the sixth edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games which started in 2000. The games were held from 19 to ...

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in ...

, winning gold in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

and silver in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

. From her performances she was invited to compete in the 200 metres at the

2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: * 17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanes ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Riley competed in the women's 200 metres at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. She placed seventh in her heat with a time of 23.77s. She competed in the 200 metres at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, ...

on the

Gold Coast, Australia The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the ...

, after winning the Australian Athletics Titles in both the 100 meters and the 200 meters. At the Common wealth Games, she made the semi-finals and ran fourth in her race, in a time of 23.24s. She missed out on a position in the final by 0.01s to

Bianca Williams Bianca Williams (born 18 December 1993) is a British athlete. She competed for England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where she won bronze medals in the 200 m, and in the 4 × 100 m relay. She has also won two medals as part of the B ...

. Riley's other notable achievements include winning the silver medal at the 2019 World University Games in Naples, Italy, in the 200 meters as well as being a 2 x Oceania Champion, and a 3 x National Champion.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Riley 2000 births Living people Australian female sprinters World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games People from Beaudesert, Queensland Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia Olympic female sprinters 21st-century Australian women Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade silver medalists for Australia Sportswomen from Queensland Australian Athletics Championships winners