Achieving Your Dreams

When you achieve a goal, it’s easy to look back and think it was all worth it. Unfortunately when you’re working towards your goal, it isn’t always smooth sailing. Whether your gripes are the hard training, injuries or sacrifices (including social events) none of them matter when you’re wearing a gold medal around your neck.

It’s particularly disheartening when seasons don’t go to plan. I’ve had my share of these seasons. That’s why we need to enjoy what we’re doing – enjoy training, enjoy the satisfaction of completing your sessions and enjoy competing. Chances are that if you’re not enjoying your athletics you won’t reach your potential.

As a junior, I was fortunate enough to go to my first national titles when I was 13. Every trip away as a junior was a great experience. It gave me an opportunity to develop as an athlete, compete against the best in Australia (for my age) and also see a little bit of Australia (which is a wonderfully diverse country).

If you are one of the lucky juniors heading off to Sydney in about a week, know that you deserve to be there. You have gone up against the rest of Queensland and let me assure you that Queenslanders are fierce competitors. Go down and show the rest of Australia what we Queenslanders are made of and have fun doing it!

Some of you will win, some will be rewarded with a personal best and some won’t. Take advantage of the opportunity though and enjoy the experience.

I missed out on going to nationals when I was 15 due to an ankle injury I sustained playing volleyball. The following year, at the age of 16, I was rewarded with my first under-age national title in the long jump. It was another six years until I represented Australia as I narrowly missed the world junior qualifying mark of 6.15m (jumping 6.14m, 6.13m and 6.10m).

Although I have been Australia’s leading long jumper since 2000, I haven’t made every Australia team (I missed out on the 2001 and 2005 World Championship Teams) and I have only won 3 National Titles. In 2000, after a 3 year hiatus from athletics, I returned to competition less than 2 months before Nationals. I jumped out of my skin in the qualifying round of Nationals then feeling a little overwhelmed by the possibility of winning an open national title I didn’t jump as well in the final and finished second. Later that year I jumped another personal best to win the Olympic Trials which qualified me to compete for Australia in a home Olympics.

Keep your performances in perspective if you have a bad competition – there are more than likely other opportunities ahead. Enjoy yourself, keep perspective and be tenacious so you can achieve your dreams! Good luck and have fun.