THEY may be young – far away from their teens – but the dazzling exploits of siblings Clara and Claire Fetrie is holding hundreds spellbound in Sydney, Australia.
Already known as the Fetrie Sisters, the older of the two, nine-year-old Clara Seyram Fetrie is being compared to by late American sprint legend, Florence Griffith-Joyner (Flo-Jo).
Clara has so far hauled more than 50 medals and trophies in school competitions and only in April won the 2019 NSW Junior State Championships in Sydney.
A pupil of St Margaret Mary’s Primary, Clara – now in Year 3 – broke the record for 100m at the Zone Athletics Carnival with a stunning Personal Best (PB) of 15 seconds.
“My dream is to break the women world’s 100m and 200m records one day and I believe it is attainable,” Clara, who is also nicknamed ‘Mini-Bolt’ after the legendary Usain Bolt, told the Times Sports yesterday in an interview.
Flo-Jo is the women’s 100m world record holder with a time of 10.49 seconds set in 1988. She also has a time of 21.34 seconds in the 200m standing by her name.
Clara’s kid sister – six-year-old Claire Senam, is also coming up strongly and has a decent number of first-place finishes at St Mary Primary School’s junior athletic championships, aside from other events outside the school.
A proud dad Bernard Fetrie told the Times Sports on Monday that the girls have demonstrated extraordinary talent that would benefit the world one day.
Would they compete for Ghana one day, was the question the Times Sports posed to Mr Fetrie.
“Why not; I will convince them to, however, the final decision rests with them,” he said, adding “let’s wait until that sparkling moment comes.”
The Fetrie Sisters were born in Australia to Ghanaian and Nigeria parents – both parents being professional athletes. Bernard Fetrie is a former national weightlifting champion and captain of Ghana’s team to the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Australia, having also represented the nation in a number of championships, including the All Africa Games in Abuja 2003 in Nigeria.
Ms Jane Dike, a Nigerian athlete, also represented her country multiple times in the Commonwealth Games 100m and 200m events as well as other world championships.
BY JOHN VIGAH
