Woolies worker’s double life as an Olympic sprinter

For the past few months Sunday has been Riley Day’s only rest day.

But that doesn’t mean she gets to sleep in – instead the 21-year-old gets up, puts her uniform on and heads to her job at Woolies.

Ms Day has worked at the supermarket branch in Beaudesert, Queensland, for the past three years and while her Sunday shift might means she misses out on sleeping in, it’s one of her favourite times of the week.

“I look forward to my Sunday shifts because I help (John), he’s like my grandfather,” she told news.com.au.

John, 90, is partially blind and Ms Day has helped him complete his weekly shop every Sunday for the past 18 months.

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“I’ve memorised his whole grocery list, every week he gets the same thing,” she said. “If he doesn’t come in I ring him (and ask), ‘where are you? I’m waiting for you’.”

Ms Day’s Sunday shift – as well as her Tuesday one – are all the more admirable when you learn she is currently preparing for her first Olympics after qualifying for the 200 metre sprint.

She trains an average of three hours a day, six times a week and is also studying for a business degree majoring in sports management at Griffith University.

But despite her schedule Ms Day keeps her work-life balance in check by making sure “everything is perfectly co-ordinated around everything”.

“It’s been a lot of training, the training hours have gone up, the intensity, the load everything has been full on so I’ve been very tired,” she said.

“But I’m also putting everything in to competing well at the Olympics so I’m not taking any of this opportunity for granted, I’m not leaving any stone unturned.”

Ms Day began running as a child and while she’s made a name for herself thanks to her speed, her Olympic dreams are a marathon, not a sprint.

“My goal for Tokyo is to obviously run a PB (personal best) and then I want to be a contender for the final, so I want to make the semi final and be close to or make the final,” she said.

“My main goals are looking towards to Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028, that will be when I am hitting my peak for my sprinting.”

Woolworths are also helping to fund Ms Day’s Olympic dream, with the supermarket continuing to pay her salary for the time she takes off to compete in Tokyo.

And while competing on the world stage as one of Australia’s most promising young athletes is sure to see her profile skyrocket, Ms Day has no plans to quit her Woolies job when she returns.

“It’s been so amazing, my whole staff have been so supportive of whatever I’ve wanted to do in my sporting career,” Ms Day said.

“Whenever I’ve wanted to take time off they would give me that time off and they’re actually paying my wage when I go overseas so that will be a massive stress off financially as well, so I’m incredibly grateful for that.”