Coming from Narromine,  she said she still has an affinity for regional areas such as the Central West.

“The kids here were all so gorgeous and it’s something that’s close to my heart because country kids don’t often get opportunities like this,” she said.

“Plus I really miss coming to the country, my parents have sold their property near Dubbo so it’s nice to be back.

“Once a country girl always a country girl, I guess.”

Melinda has a list of achievements as long as some of the distances she’s run over.

Just some include international medals at the World Championships and Commonwealth Games, thirteen individual open titles (over 100yards, 100m, and 200m), and a string of records.

And representing Australia at three Olympic Games including Sydney in 2000 – she brought the torch on Saturday.

At her clinic on Saturday Melinda said shewas  teaching the children about technique which underpins any sport.

“I gave them some pointers on correcting their running technique because running is so important, not only in Little Athletics but any sport,” she said.

“With the right technique they can reduce injuries and perform more efficiently.

“And I’ve seen improvement within the clinic, so with a year of work they’ll be incredible.

“We teach our kids to swim, because it’s survival, but we don’t teach them running when they play sport even though it underpins it all.”

Melinda is also a National Selector for Track and Field during an Olympic year, combine that with her own children’s on-track ambitions, it has been a busy time for her of late.

She said that it was fortunate that she was in town for the Moolarben Coal Celebrity Golf Classic at Mudgee Golf Club the previous day.

“I would like to do more clinics in country areas, it’s one of my goals,” she said.

“But when I knew that I was coming here I tried to tie it all in and it worked out really well because these guys have got regionals coming up.”