Bizarre moment Collingwood fan confronts vegan sprinter and her friend for trying to train on the same field as his team
- Olympic sprinter Morgan Mitchell was booted from practice track mid-session
- The two-time Australian 400m champion had to make way for Collingwood
- AFL teams headed back to training on Monday ahead of the code’s June 11 return
- Mitchell and athlete training partner had been using the track during lockdown
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Olympic sprinter Morgan Mitchell was booted from the practice track, to make way for the return of the Collingwood Football Club.
The 25-year-old Australian speedster who featured in the Netflix documentary The Game Changers, had been training at the Magpies’ Holden Centre base during the coronavirus lockdown with fellow athlete Nana Owuse-Afriyie.
But with Aussie Rules teams returning to the training paddock on Monday in preparation for their June 11 season reboot, the two-time Australian 400m champion and her 21-year-old counterpart were told to beat it by club officials and fans.
Olympic sprinter Morgan Mitchell (left) was booted from the practice track with fellow athlete Nana Owuse-Afriyie to make way for the return of the Collingwood Football Club
The 25-year-old Australian speedster is pictured being stopped by a security official
A fan in a Collingwood singlet is pictured telling athlete Nana Owuse-Afriyie to leave the track
The unofficial arrangement Mitchell had with the club to train at the venue came to an abrupt end when security guards ordered her to leave track mid-session.
Mitchell was a semi-finalist in the 800m at last year’s world athletics championships in Doha and represented Australia at the Olympic Games in Rio 2016.
The middle-distance runner also featured in a documentary produced by megastar Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The film follows athletes on plant-based diets who are competing at the highest levels of sport around the globe.
Crowned by animal rights group PETA as one of Australia’s Sexiest Vegan Celebrities, she said the diet ‘really helped with everything: energy, health, the environment.’
Mitchell and Owuse-Afriyie are pictured during their training session at the Magpies’ Holden Centre base
Mitchell and Owuse-Afriyie are pictured being approached by a security member
‘I’ll wake up, I’ll have two pieces of banana with maple syrup, peanut butter on rye bread and then a smoothie, which will have every vegetable and fruit that you can imagine.
‘Then, for a snack, I will have a chia pod and some dates. I’ll have a tofu burger and some rice for lunch. And I’ll make something up for dinner: a vegan pizza with vegan cheese or noodles. When you learn to love it, it comes easy.’
When asked why she made the decision to go vegan, she said: ‘I am one of those people who actually cares. It’s what I chose to do.’