But two in the same family at the same time must be relatively rare.
Brother and sister Cole and Jorja Gibbons have both been wearing the black singlet in events around the country.
Cole who has just finished year 13 at Otago Boys’ High School, and younger sister Jorja who is moving into year 12 at Queen’s High School, were both selected for the New Zealand secondary schools athletics squad which has been competing in the past couple of weeks.
The duo were part of a NZ team which competed at the Lovelock Classic in Timaru earlier this month and then the Potts Classic in Hawkes Bay last weekend.
Jorja competes in the sprint and the long jump while Cole lines up in the 110m hurdles and the pole vault.
Cole did well in the pole vault over the weekend in Hastings.
In a pre-meet in Hastings last week he set an Otago age record and then bettered it by 1cm to set a mark of 4.22m in the Potts Classic event.
In Napier, Jorja had some serious competition. There was three heats in the 100m and though she did a quick time she did not make the final. She was up against top runners such as Rosie Elliot and Georgia Hulls so it was always going to be tough to get past the heats.
But she has got further goals this summer. Coming off a camping holiday in Lake Hawea, the siblings are nowhere near their peak.
The national championships are set for Wellington in about six weeks and then Jorja will remain part of the track team which will head to Brisbane for the Australian national championships in April.
Cole will not compete in Brisbane as he has finished school. He is heading to polytechnic to study carpentry.
It is little wonder the brother and sister went into athletics. Their mother Megan is a top coach while father Paul went to the Olympics as a pole vaulter and still holds a couple of national records.
He coaches Cole while Megan, and her mother Joan Merrilees, look after Jorja.
Their father said they had not pushed their children into the sport at all.
"We did not lead them into it. It was something they chose to do. Even now, we might give them some training to do but that doesn’t mean they have to do it. Quite often they won’t," he said.
"Who knows what will happen with them. Most athletes do not reach their peak to their early 20s. In some events athletes do not peak until their late 20s."
Mr Gibbons still holds national records at both senior and junior level in the pole vault.
Whether those records can be bettered by his son, no-one knows, and he is not making any bold claims. It was about enjoyment at the junior level and getting the basics right, Mr Gibbons said.
The pole vault has some family history though as Mr Gibbons’ father Kevin was also a former national champion in the event.
