The Tight Race

• Alexis Wyllie, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2022

BANG! Goes the pistol, as I start the 100 metre sprint. The icy wind was gushing against my face, I can hear the noisy crowd shouting out my name. “Emily…. Emily… Go Emily!!” It is echoing in my head. I had my eyes focused on the finish line. I could hear the runner’s footsteps not far behind me. My heart was beating quickly, as I pumped my legs up and down. The finish line was coming up fast. I strived for my body to go as fast as it could. My labored breathing sounded like my lungs could pop open. Suddenly, there was a shooting pain coming from my ankle. This had happened many times before, but never in such an important race. Would I make it?
Only one person had overtaken me. I knew this was going to be hard, but I couldn’t give up. The crowd still shouting out my name, motivating me to run. Soon, I was in line with the leader. We were only a couple of metres away from the finish line. Everyone was cheering out our names, “Emily, Emily, Emily, Katlyn, Katlyn!” We were picking up speed, my ankle was in a lot of pain, I fell over the finish line. It was too close to call. WHO HAD WON?!?!
After an excruciating 10 minutes of waiting, I heard over the speaker, “Emily and Katlyn, we have decided that you will come here tomorrow afternoon and whoever wins, wins the grand final”.
The day had come quickly. It was lunch time (three hours to the race). I grabbed my full water bottle, I slid my Skechers on. Oh, I can’t forget to strap my ankle I thought. I had the bandage on and I went for the car. Once I got there, I had an hour to warm up, and once I had warmed up, I practiced on the race track. I walked to the finish line, trying to save my energy for the race. Once Katlyn got to the starting line, we were told to get ready.
Bang, went the pistol again, it felt like the first time I had ran the 100m race when I was a kid. There was the cold wind blowing against my face. I could feel my thighs being pumped up and down. I was charging my arms up and down, trying to make more motion to go faster. I was telling myself I’ve gotten into this team, and I have to win gold for Australia. I soon realized after all my self-motivating words, I was very close to the finish line, Katlyn was not far behind me. I continued to push my body, as I quickly crossed the finish line. I WON!! I was screaming inside my head!!! Katlyn & I shook hands and congratulated each other “Good run”. We stood up on on the platform and proudly sang The Australian National Anthem before receiving our medals. I can't believe it, I am a GOLD Medalist now!