23 May 2025
On the international stage of the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships, Sergeant Nunu Campos placed eighth in the 60-metre hurdles for his category.
As the only Australian in the final, he was happy with the result, even though he said it did not feel like his best effort.
Pushing hard on take-off sounds just like what you want to do, but it brought him too close to the first hurdle and affected the rest of his race, Sergeant Campos said.
“I clipped the second hurdle and lost all momentum and speed. I couldn't make the third with the correct cadence,” he said.
High hurdles are used in the 60-metre race, which are more than nine metres apart and require a three-step pace. If an athlete loses their footing and has to do it in five strides, it slows their energy and costs time.
As a natural hurdler, he instead focused his training on sprinting, as that was not his strongest event.
“Even if I don't get any faster, just fixing those technical things will drop my time in the future,” Sergeant Campos said.
The 1st Joint Public Affairs Unit senior imagery specialist self-funded his trip to compete for the first time at the indoor track and field competition.
With spectators closer to the racing on the indoor circuit, the atmosphere felt more intimate, Sergeant Campos said.
“If you're on the outside lane, they can almost touch you. It's really loud; you can feel them there,” he said.
While taking away eighth in the world in his category for 60-metre hurdles, he also placed 16th in the 200-metre sprint and completed the 60-metre sprint.
This was on the back of winning three sprint events at the ACT Championships and ranking top 10 in Oceania while representing ADF Running and Athletics.
Sergeant Campos is now focused on his 400-metre sprint speed at the Australian Masters Games in Canberra in October.
Next year, he is considering entering the Oceania Games and World Masters Championships in South Korea.
