Boundary umpire, Shane Thiele is a competitive beast by nature, although very lithe by stature. Shane became interested in the World Masters Games that were held recently in WA and given his veteran status, he is over 35, Shane decided to “give it a go.”
Shane decided that he would turn the clock back and go to his pet event, the 3000m steeplechase. That’s right, when Shane was just a slip of a lad, his event was the steeplechase. “I had to give competitive racing over steeples away when I moved into umpiring. Given the time of the year, I thought well, why not!” So while the rest of the group are off overseas or attending the Melbourne Cup Carnival, Shane was ramping up his training and heading to Perth to compete.
Shane is as unassuming as they come and he doesn’t like a fuss made about anything he does. So when he finished 3rd in his age group in a world championship, representing Australia, we thought it was worth crowing about, on Shane’s behalf.
We even managed to procure a photo of him on the dais after receiving his medal. For the record, Shane ran 10.04.37 beaten by an Jacques Sallberg, from America who ran 9.42.36 and Teppo Syrjala from Finland who ran 9.47.02.
So Shane will you go to Spain in two years to run again? “I’d love to but it is being held in September and if I had a choice I’d rather be selected to umpire AFL finals. I can run in masters events when I retire from the AFL, said Shane with his tongue placed squarely in his cheek.
Well done mate!
