Britt’s brave battle
OLYMPIC medallist Brittany Broben has revealed she battled a serious back injury for the 18 months leading up to the London Games.
The baby of the Australian Games team at just 16, Broben sealed a silver medal in the 10m platform event with her last dive of the final.
But just making the team was a battle after a back injury flared before the Australian Olympic trials, leaving the Mermaid Waters teen virtually unable to walk.
‘‘I hurt it just before the Olympic trials and I was worried that I wouldn’t even get to trial,’’ said Broben, who returns to school at Marymount College today.
‘‘When I hurt my back for the third time, I couldn’t even walk the next day. So I was extremely scared.
‘‘But the 10m platform is a dangerous sport and with that comes the responsibility of knowing what you’re doing. My back is still in a lot of pain but I think I’ve handled it pretty well.’’
Broben finished second to Melissa Wu in a tight final at the trials to seal her place on the Games team but continued to battle constant pain in the lead-up to London.
‘‘I’ve had a bad back since I was about 14 and I’ve had three cortisone injections in it,’’ she said.
Broben’s frame is put through enormous stresses diving from the 10m platform and while the nature of her injury is constantly changing, she entered the Games with ‘‘lots of bone bruising and maybe a torn ligament’’.
But she has no regrets about battl- ing through. ‘‘I’ve never thought of it as being brave. I get worried at times when I think I’m only 16 and I’ve got a serious back injury,’’ said Broben.
‘‘But I didn’t want to let a back injury stop me getting to the Olympics, especially with everything I’ve been though – all the pain and aches and splats and everything I’ve done at training – I didn’t want that to go to waste.’’
It was that fighting attitude and a determination t o have fun i n London that propelled Broben to the silver medal. After over-rotating on her second-last dive, the teen was furious with herself, believing the effort had cost a medal.
‘‘I was under the water
(after the entry) going: ‘I’ve just lost myself an Olympic medal that I’ve pushed my body the hardest I could to’,’’ Broben said. ‘‘But my two dives beforehand were so good that it left me only a couple of points behind second.
‘‘I’m not a very greedy person and I’m not a cocky person but going into the last dive I knew I could get (a medal).’’
Broben knew on entry she had nailed it. But it wasn’t until she heard the crowd cheering and saw the look on her coach’s face that she knew it would be enough to get her on the dais.
‘‘I do remember (the medal being placed around my neck) and it was the best feeling I’ve ever had.’’