Today 5/6W got to chat to a champ, her name was Jana Pittman. Two other schools got to talk to Jana as well. It was pretty cool being able to chat with an Olympic champ. She got two gold medals in 2002 and 2006 in the Commonwealth games. I asked, “What made you want to change from hurdles to bobsledding?” She said that her friend had stopped doing hurdles and moved to bobsled. She asked if Jana wanted to go with her but she said no but she had a go and she loved it so she started to bobsled.  She liked being an Australian when she competed in the 2006 Commonwealth games in Melbourne and she could see a few Aussie flags flying around. Jana had to have around 546 needles before being able to bobsled. Jana has a 6 year old son as well. On her 4th try she had a stack, the bobsled went sideways and she was scraping her head on the ground still in the sled and guess what she broke? A hip? No. A shoulder? No. It was a fingernail! After going 1 kilometre with her head scraping the ground she broke a fingernail! By Shaylah

 

On the 29-10-13 grade 5/6 W from California Gully P.S, Rockhampton Girls Grammar and Newington Public School did chat to a champ.  We spoke to Jana Pittman. She used to be a hurdler but now she is a bobsledder.  She is competing in the winter Olympics in Russia next year. Our Google Hangouts session started at 11:00. She talked to us about her career as a bobsledder and her training. Then we asked her some questions like, is it hard to stop the bobsled? And which sport is more competitive hurdling or bobsledding? She told us that you would be more lonely when you do hurdles then when you do bobsledding because when you do hurdles you don`t have anybody to travel with but when you are a bobsledder you have your pilot. Sometimes she travels with her six year old son Conrad but he also has school. Jana is also training to be a doctor.
On her 4th try at bobsledding she said it was finally getting good then she fell out of the sled and then she went to hospital and she only broke her finger nail. She has had 546 needles and 56 MRI scans because of her injuries when she was a hurdler. Jana has less injuries now doing bobsledding.
By Olivia

Today 5/6 Windridge got a chance to talk to a bobsledder and her name is Jana Pittman. She was a four hundred metre hurdler and she was in the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Jana won a gold medal in two Commonwealth games in 2002-2006. Jana had a friend that she did athletics with. Her friend, Astrid moved on to bobsledding and called up Jana and said, “Can you come and have a try of bobsledding?”  Astrid persuaded Jana to have a go at bobsledding. Astrid is the pilot.
Jana Pittman has a husband and a six year old son who goes everywhere with her on the holidays. Jana had over five hundred needles in her when she was hurdling, before she started bobsledding.
When Jana had her first, second and third tries she was fine until her fourth came around and she fell out and broke her finger nail. She thought if she ever fell out she would’ve gotten a scar or something big and bad.
Jana Pittman said it was hard to pull the brake in and she also said the bobsled weighed a lot. She also said the pilot pushes at the start and then she jumps in and then Jana hops in. Jana said that hurdling is more competitive than bobsledding. Jana wants to become a doctor.
My Opinion: I think that Jana made the right choice moving to bobsledding because that is what I want to do when I grow up and so does Shaylah. We want to be a team and be FAMOUS.
Eve

On 29/10/13 at 11:00 our class was on Google Hangout and we talked to Jana Pittman. She was a hurdler in the 400m Relay and won 2 gold, and she did the 400m hurdles and was one of the champions.
We did the Google hang out with Newington P.S and Rockhampton Girls Grammar.  
But Jana is not in the summer Olympics. She is in the winter Olympic. Jana is in the bobsledding and it weighs 200kg and the driver is called the pilot . At the start the pilot and Jana they both push the bobsled, and the pilot jumps in the sled and Jana gives it a push and then she jumps in.    
By James

California Gully Primary School, Rockhampton Girls Grammar and Newington Public School, all had the chance to Chat To A Champ. Thanks to Frances for setting up the chat. We got to ask Jana Pitman questions about bobsledding and about how she feels about the winter Olympics in February 2014, to be held in Sochi, Russia.
We asked her how hard it is to stop the bobsled, and why she changed to bobsledding. She said “Her best friend convinced her to change. She was competing in the hurdles originally, but then I went to bobsledding.
On my 4th try I was getting confident and more relaxed when I had my first crash.  You know when you’re about to stop it goes all quiet, and it went all quiet and I fell out and I slid with my head on the ground for 1km. I went to the hospital and all I had wrong was a broken fingernail.
When Jana was competing in hurdles she needed to get approximately 546 needles and 51 MRI’S.
By Chara

On 29th of October my classroom 5/6 W California Gully P.S. went on a Google website called Hangouts. It is like Skype but it can have more than one person talking to the same person. Today we did it with 2 other classes but different schools. We did it with Rockhampton Girl Grammar in Queensland also Newington P.S. in NSW.
We talked to Jana Pittman who did hurdles and now does bobsledding with a pilot that is her friend. She was doing hurdles until her friend rang up and said “Are you interested in doing bobsledding with me?” Her friend needed a person to push the bobsled that was strong enough.
When Jana Pitman was doing hurdles she had 546 needles in the back of her legs. She had 56 MRI’s and also had 13 operations. Jana Pitman said to her friend that she wanted to do bobsledding and not do hurdles anymore.
She is competing at the Winter Olympics next year in Russia.
Kayla

On the 29-10-13 our class got to talk to Jana Pittman. There were other schools like Rockhampton Girls Grammar and Newington Public. We got to ask her questions, I asked Jana if she has ever fallen out of a bobsled. And she said she had been in an accident before.
First she did hurdles, then she went in to bobsledding she won 2 gold medals. The Girl’s Grammar school could not talk but they could hear everyone else.
When she got injured in hurdles she got over 500 needles and scars everywhere. She also got 51 MRI’s.
By Keisha

On the 29th of October we had Jana Pitman talk to us on Google Hangouts. We had Rockhampton Girls Grammar School and Newington Primary School.  
Something that I learned: She has been to 3 Commonwealth games. She has won 2 world championships. She used to do hurdles and now she is doing bobsleigh. She has a little boy who is 6 years old. She has a pilot that helps her to navigate around the course. She is a two time Olympian in hurdles. She has won gold in 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth games. She got interested in doing bobsledding because someone asked her to give it a go. She has had over 500 needles before she was a bobsledder.
It was an experience to meet Jana Pittman on Google hangout and to hear what has happened to her and how she became a bobsledder.
By Mitchell  

On 29/10/13 at 11:00 am our class used Google Hang Out to talk with a two time world champion Jana Pittman.
Jana Pittman competed in 400m hurdles and won two gold medals 2002 and 2006. She was in the  4 by 4 relay race. Now Jana is going to compete in the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and Jana in going to compete in bobsled. Jana had 500 needles before she started in Bobsled.
Also the other school that joined us was Rockhampton Girls Grammar and Newington P.S.
By Brady