We certainly started off the new year with an outstanding young woman as our guest speaker. In a question and answer session, compered by our very own Bruce Cowan, Anna kept club members entertained with her engaging and vivacious personality as we were led through her journey to become a two times Paralympian gold medallist (with more to come?).Anna started off at age 16 when she was contact by Paralympics NZ and invited to join a training camp in Dunedin in 2013. At the time netball and basketball were her sports of choice but she was encouraged into the springing and long jump when she showed some promise at the training camp. Two years later she attended the IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha and won the bronze medal with a personal best jump of 5.41m. Anna said she had not realised she was very good at the sport until she won the medal, saying she had barely qualified to even attend the games.
Anna was selected for the 2016 Rio Paralympics, and because it was a surprise to her to be selected, felt no pressure going into the competition. Anna jumped had another PB of 5.62m with her last jump of the competition and this was enough to give her the gold medal.
Post Rio, Anna was injured with stress fractures in her foot. This meant two years out of the sport while she recovered. With the 2020 Paralympics being delayed until 2021, this gave Anna a longer period to get fully fit. She continued her training as best she could in lockdown. Off to Tokyo, which was stressful as travel plans constantly changed with Covid. She arrived in Japan one week out from the competition but this was really tough, enduring the heat (42 deg), while not being able to do anything or go anywhere. Luckily on the day of the competition, the heatwave broke and it was only 16 deg.
In contrast to her experience in Rio, Anna led the competition from her first jump with a jump of 5.76m, a Paralympic record. This was enough to give her a second gold medal. Following the competition Anna has had a 3 month break and is now getting back into her training. The World Champs which were supposed to be in Japan this year have been cancelled, so she has her eyes on the Paris 2023 World Champs to be followed up by the Paralympics in Paris in 2024.
While her training schedule is not full time, it is 7 days a week and physically and mentally tiring. Anna has also been studying Quantity Surveying and Construction Management so will be looking to further her experience in the work force in one of these areas.
Thanks you Anna for coming along to our meeting to share your experiences, we wish you all the best for the future – you are a truly inspiring role model!
