JOSE ‘Jomil’ Millares (17) will kickstart 2018 on the front foot as one of about 50 local residents involved in the Queen’s Baton Relay.
The Alexander Heights resident will carry the baton in the Wanneroo leg of the relay on February 26 as it travels around Australia in the lead up to the Commonwealth Games in April.
Family friend Kristine Simpson nominated Jomil, who won the 2012 Wanneroo Student Citizenship Award and 2014 Commonwealth Taekwondo Champion.
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After a quiet year for his taekwondo as he focused on finishing Year 12 at Mercy College, the teenager said he was looking forward to “running my own race” in the relay.
“The relay gives me a chance to be a part of a prestigious event that I hope to return to again,” he said.
Jomil said he was looking forward to seeing the crowd and “representing Australia in a different way”.
He has been on the national team four times in various taekwondo competitions.
Those include the 2013 US Open, 2014’s Oceania Taekwondo Championships and Commonwealth Taekwondo Championships, then the Junior World Taekwondo Championships in 2016.
He was the state champion 10 times from 2007 to 2016 and national champion six times in 2009, 2011-14 and 2016.
Jomil hopes to do a double degree in exercise and sports science and physiotherapy and aspires to be one of the top 100 ranked athletes in the world.
“I also want to be able to string together a number of good performances to help further me in my taekwondo career so one day I’ll be able to represent Australia on a world and Olympic stage,” he said.
Jomil started training in the sport when he was three years old, and now is doing his fourth black belt training at CORE Martial Arts in Ellenbrook.