Samuels takes tips from the King for Beijing 26. October 07

Olympic hopeful Dani Samuels has been training with Elvis Presley for the last week. Well, not really Elvis, but he is known as "the King" of discus throwing.

"My manager, Hayden, calls him the Elvis Presley of discus throwing," Samuels, 19, said.

His name is Mac Wilkins and he left the country after a five-day stint training Samuels on Thursday.

Wilkins, the Olympic champion from the Montreal Games of 1976 and four-times world record holder, spent hours with Samuels, inspiring the teenager as she prepares for the Beijing Games next year. But even before the American champion set foot in Australia, Samuels was full of anticipation.

"I was a bit scared a couple of days before he arrived because he's so awesome," she said. "I didn't want to disappoint him." And when he finally arrived at training, Samuels was gobsmacked by his presence and discus throwing nous.

"He is full of knowledge," Samuels said. "He's still a very passionate discus thrower. I learnt a lot from him, from my technique to the way I do weights in the weights room.

"It was good to hear about his experience of being an Olympic champion and breaking world records. I remember him saying after he won the Olympic gold, he knew he had to do more work even after winning gold, just little things like that, he knew he had to do more. His attitude is inspiring."

It's been a big few years for Samuels, who surprised many by winning bronze at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and went on to win gold at the world junior championships last year.

However, in her first world championships appearance, in Osaka, Japan, last August, Samuels was disappointed when she failed to make the final. She was hoping to break her personal bestof 60.63 metres.

"I really wanted to make the final and I thought I was ready to do that, but I didn't," Samuels said. "I was very disappointed."

After Osaka, and to boost her skill level, it was Samuels's coach, Denis Knowles, who emailed Wilkins and encouraged him to come to Australia to tutor his pupil. The NSW Institute of Sport and Athletics Australia also helped out in funding Wilkins's visit.

Samuels said her technique has improved after spending five days with the Olympic great.

"I learnt a lot of things, technically," she said. "They probably don't look like dramatic changes but they feel like dramatic changes. Mac changed the way I get to a position to create more force, more distance and create more power."

She hopes a little more force in her action will take her to the final at the Olympic games next year.

"My goal is to make the top eight," Samuels said. "It hasn't really hit me yet, the prospect of competing at the Olympics. Once I get to the nationals, the Olympic selection trials, it will be like, 'Whoa'. At the moment I'm just thinking about what's happened over the last week and getting my technique right."

smh.com.au