Alumnus: James Nippress

James Nippress (Nipper) was coached by the great Australian Middle Distance Guru, Dick Telford (Team Telford) in the 3000m Steeple Chase. James started also working with FAST in January 2021 to improve his hurdling in his favourite event.

James, Team Telford and FAST worked collaboratively together. FAST identified an area of improvement for James in regards to getting to the ground quicker. Training exercises, drills and video feedback all focused on this improvement area as part of a normal training session together. Dick Telford said that helping James achieve that outcome would be a “big plus”.

Before working with FAST, James’ personal best for the 3000m Steeplechase was 8:32.59, set on 20 May 2016 in Los Angeles.

In 2021, James beat that previous best time from 2016, three times and his new PB (8:30.13) was set at the 2021 Australian Championships where he won the Gold Medal.

James went on to finish tenth at the 2021 Diamond League Grand Prix in Gateshead (UK) that season. Australia’s top placed finisher in the race.

James was the Australian Champion in the 3000m Steeplechase on multiple occasions. He represented Australia twice at the Commonwealth Games, once at the IAAF World Championships, twice at Universiade and once at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.