James Nipperess

In his early year, while running for the St George club in Sydney, James Nipperess was coached by three-time Olympian Albie Thomas. In later years he moved on to Ken Green’s squad ahead of a move to Canberra in 2017 where he linked up with Dick Telford.

In his early years Nipperess was one of the leading 1500m runners for his age in Australia. While a teen he ran PBs of 3:41.03 (1500m) and 1:49.69 (800m). He was also a very handy cross country runner. He made his debut for Australia over 1500m in 2011 at the 2011 World University Games. Later that year he dabbled in the 3000m steeplechase and his transition to a new event was confirmed when he placed second at the 2012 national championships and in 2013 he competed at the World University Games over the barriers. Also in 2012 he won the national cross country title.

Over the next few years he continues to trim his PB, down to a best of 8:32.59 in 2016, to rank 13th on the Australian All Time List. There were more representative honours at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, 2015 IAAF World Championships and 2015 World Cross Country championships. He returned to the national team for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games following a great win at the national championships, his fifth title.