Who do you ask to race the fastest man in the world? Australia's answer was a 16-year-old schoolgirl from country Queensland.
Riley Day is from Beaudesert, a town of 6000 on the other side of the Tambourine Mountain from the Gold Coast, the youngest athlete on Australia's Nitro team and the country's choice to take on the world's greatest athlete, Usain Bolt.
![Bolt competes in the mixed 4x100 metre relay.](/web/20170206005713im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/5/n/q/v/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu5nfj.png/1486251954891.jpg)
"Three months ago I never thought I'd be here signing autographs. I had to practice it to make sure I get it right!" said Day.
Day carried the baton for Australia to run the second leg of the4x100 metres mixed relay against Bolt on the first night of Nitro in Melbourne. Technically that is a true and factual statement. The fact Bolt was well down the back straight by the time she accepted the baton was a slight inconvenience but she ran particularly well.
Bolt had taken the baton from former world record holder Asafa Powell (who had earlier won the 60m sprint) and who had run the lead leg against a field of women. The All Stars chose to begin the relay with two men before two women while other countries alternated men and women. Australia's Jack Hale surged home to claim third for Australia.
The sprint relay win also confirmed the Bolt All Stars had won the night with Australia second in the points-based team competition. So that went to a preferred script.
"It was a lot of fun, we were experimenting, I was excited to run, next week might change it up for the fun it," Bolt said.
"It is the first one, we are going to figure out how to make it better but it's a good start. For me it was good, I always enjoy the crowd, they came out and supported and I really appreciated that."
The first night of Nitro delivered on its promise. It was bright and busy, the competition entertaining, the events innovative and even the weather obliged.
The crowd largely came for Bolt, but that was expected and they did come in good number.
The promise of Nitro was that it would be high energy and be the Twenty20 re-imagining of itself so flame machines shot fire balls in the air, music doofed, lights strobed and dancers thrust about. An American urger was brought in as crowd whooper.
The first event summed the difference of Nitro to normal athletics – a medley relay of two men and two women running 200, 400, 600 and 800.
It also presented an early surge for Australia, which dominated the event to win by the length of the straight. Next a men's 150m race where interest was in Australia's emerging 200m runner Alex Hartmann against Jamaica's Olympic gold medal 100m runner Michael Frater across the hybrid event. Hartmann came third ... but beat Frater. "It was pretty cool. I got a pretty good start and I was expecting to come up on my shoulder and Ididn't see him hit the straight and Iwas like 'go, don't stop'," Hartmann said.
"The atmosphere here is crazy ... the crowd pumps you up and you know to race world beaters is amazing. There's been a bit of trash talk going on between Bolt and everyone so that's been good."
The new events delivered the sort of thrilling, crowd-pleasing moments organisers wanted. The mixed three-minute race – women running for three minutes then men beginning where their countrywoman finished – was a winner. Australia's Gen LaCaze and Luke Mathews won the close event.
The elimination mile was an unqualified success – the last runner each lap is cut until three runners are left for the last lap. The foxing each lap, then the need to sprint, saw the field so exhausted by laps two and three they could not hold it together. Australia's Jeff Risely was pipped at the line by another Australian, Matthew Ramsden who was running for Bolt's team. In the hybrid 2x300m event Luke Stevens accepted the baton from Morgan Mitchell and remarkably was able to overpower Olympic and American NCAA champion 400m hurdler Kerron Clement.
"It is overwhelming ... every time we start it's like 'Guys look at this' ... you have to thank guys for everyone coming out and supporting it," Mitchell said. The crowd of 7000 was shy of the 8500 capacity and left some holes in the stands in the back straight but of more interest was the broadcast went to China, the US, Spain, Africa, Indonesia, India, the UK, Japan and NZ and live within most markets in Australia.