Students from Nemingha Public School had a surprise on Monday, February 26, when dual Olympian Nathan Katz visited the school as part of the Olympics Unleashed program.
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Mr Katz has represented Australia in judo at Olympic and Commonwealth Games level and was in town to talk to students about goal setting, overcoming challenges, building resilience and chasing their dreams, and his presentation included videos about judo.
Nemingha Public's assistant principal, Lynne Clarke, said the visit went "really well".
"The students were really engaged and fascinated by what Mr Katz had to share with us, and asked some really fantastic questions after his presentation about his journey to become an Olympian, and how he got into judo," Mrs Clarke said.
"Others asked about his travel and how many countries he's been to, and about his health and his fitness.
"They also asked lots of really good questions about some of his injuries after Mr Katz mentioned he had had a broken wrist and glandular fever."
Mrs Clarke said the dual Olympian had a strong underlying message about his sporting journey.
"That life was not always easy - he had to overcome lots of obstacles and injuries and hurdles along the way," she said.
"His message was that you need to keep persisting, not give up when things get hard.
"Mr Katz said at all points in your life there would be obstacles, but it was really important to have a positive mindset and a support network around you to help you to keep moving forward."
The highlight of Mr Katz's visit came when he passed around his judo bronze medal, won at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022.
"The children were able to have a look at that, hold it, and feel very special," Mrs Clarke said.
Mr Katz also competed in men's judo (under 66 kilograms) at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Mrs Clarke said there were quite a few hopeful future Olympians among the Nemingha students.
More than 860 schools and almost 108,000 students across NSW have taken part in the Olympics Unleashed program, which has more than 70 Olympic athletes taking part.
On Monday morning, Mr Katz visited Carinya Christian School, and will visit Attunga Public School on Wednesday, February 28.
