Commonwealth gold medal-winning/Olympic pole vaulter, former circus performer and outdoors-for-kids advocate, Emma George scales the heights of the Three Minute Squiz.

How and where do you Squiz?
Sometimes in my garage at 6am when I should be exercising and I have to get my quick news fix first don’t take that as procrastinating though.

If you drive into Beechworth, Victoria you see a sign that says you grew up there. What’s the best thing about growing up in a small town?
The community support that you receive. Beechworth would put a banner up on the post office every time I jumped a record and even held a town party for me (as you can imagine, my Nan was very proud). That would never happen in a city.

You joined the Flying Fruit Fly circus at the age of 8. If one of your three boys came to you tomorrow and said: “Mum, I want to join the circus.” What would you say?
I would probably say yes only if practice was nearby and I didn’t have to travel with the circus and sell popcorn and tickets every school holidays. My parents were much nicer than I am.

What was the first album you ever owned?
Elton John Breaking Hearts.

What’s your go-to karaoke song?
I tend to hide under the table it’s safer for everyone that way.

What skill or talent do you not have but wish you did?
That I could sing or even hold a tune. I think I was the only person at my school to not even score a chorus position in the production.

What’s your TV favourite?
Utopia.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Road Runner. As a mum, I always seem to be running from one thing to another and I never know what my three ‘Wile E Coyotes’ have in store for me next.

What do you consider the biggest waste of energy?
Guilt.

Describe in one word what it was like to walk into the stadium as part of Team Australia at the Sydney Olympics opening ceremony…
Regret I didn’t get to march as I stayed in Perth training. If ever my children get to compete at an Olympics (not likely at this stage), I would tell them to enjoy every moment.

Name four people – living or dead – you’d kill to sit down to dinner with.
Both sets of grandparents, I would give anything to see them again, have them meet my children and tell them how important they were to me and how much I loved them.

What’s your worst habit?
Not being able to easily admit it when I am wrong

You’re a passionate advocate for getting kids to ‘Love the Outdoors’. What’s the best way to spend an afternoon outside with the rug-rats?
Go to the bush, cook a BBQ on a campfire and have a quiet cup of tea while they run free – and hope they don’t skewer each other with a stick. [Editor’s note –check out Emma’s terrific website here.]

If you could only go to one holiday destination for the rest of your natural life, what would it be?
Cocos Islands.

What’s your no-fail dinner party recipe?
Chocolate fondant. Delicious and no-fuss even my nine-year-old can nail this one.

What would you say is the most currently overlooked news story we should know about?
Definitely that Jimmy Choo is using designs by Peter Farmer, a West Australian-based Noongar artist. Not sure why it hasn’t had a run yet particularly with the Squiz’s fetish for shoes

What qualities do you most value in a friend?
To withstand time and distance. You may not chat or see each other forever but when you do, it feels just like yesterday.