Discus legend to help prodigy

The 1976 Montreal Olympic gold medallist and four-times world record breaker Mac Wilkins arrives in Sydney tomorrow to work with promising junior discus thrower Dani Samuels.

It's part of a project to help Samuels fulfil her vast potential, perhaps by the 2012 Olympics in London.

After winning gold at the world youth (U18) and junior (U20) championships and defeating the 1997 world senior champion to grab an unexpected bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Samuels' competitive temperament has been recognised.

The NSW Institute of Sport and Athletics Australia have chipped in to help bring Wilkins from the US and the institute has built an indoor throwing facility in the biomechanical analysis laboratory.

An infrared digital video camera and associated computer program is being used to film Samuels in action and provide a breakdown of her movement patterns when she throws.

Information and interpretation are then up for discussion between the NSWIS scientists and Samuels' technical coach Denis Knowles and Wilkins.

Knowles had long been an admirer of Wilkins' throwing style. Last year, one of Knowles' former athletes, Kathy Dodsworth, now living in Kentucky, met Wilkins and arranged an introduction.

Samuels, 19, is excited about meeting Wilkins. "I've been told what he says and a lot of his criticisms I agree with,'' she said. "I've still got heaps and heaps to work on and there's so much room for improvement.''