Cat finally gets the cream after ordeal
ONE afternoon is all it took for Gold Coast-based kayaker Cat McArthur to experience the full spectrum of Olympic emotions.
The South Australian moved to the Coast in 2017 to pursue her Olympic dream and was told last month that she had secured a much sought after spot on Team Australia for kayaking. But she couldn’t tell a soul. McArthur had just returned from the Australian Canoe Sprint Championships and had been informed of her place on the team on Tuesday, March 10, but with uncertainty surrounding the 2020 Games, she was told to keep the news under wraps.
The following Monday, the Australian Olympic Committee announced Australia would be pulling out of the Tokyo Olympics, whether they went ahead or not.
What followed was hours of panic as McArthur grappled with whether to stay in Queensland or return home to be with her family.
“I remember going to work, and as a physio, I was with clients all day and didn’t have the chance to check my phone until after work and I had several missed calls from coaches and our highperformance team,” she said.
“If I wanted to go home to Adelaide, I basically had to decide within the hour because boarders were closing.
“I moved here to make the Olympics and now there weren’t going to be a 2020 Games so it was a rollercoaster of emotions and one of my lowest days.
“I decided not to go back home because my patients rely on me and I love my job but I honestly wasn’t sure at the time if it was the right thing to do.”
Suddenly she found herself in an unimaginable position.
McArthur, 27, had qualified for her first Olympics, she hadn’t told anyone, and now she was uncertain whether she’d retain her spot on the team or be forced to requalify the following year.
“I called my mum crying like ‘I made my first team but no one even knows!’” she said.
“I had this list of family and friends who I’d call and phone calls I’d dreamt about making.”
Finally after an agonising 17-day wait, the Tokyo Olympics were postponed and Paddle Australia announced their selected team, confirming that all qualified athletes would retain their spot.
“The Games getting postponed was a massive relief because it meant that we weren’t going to miss out,” McArthur said.
“That was probably the best day of my life, getting officially named on the team and getting our giant boarding passes for the flight to Tokyo.”
McArthur has combined with Australian teammate and flatmate Aly Bull to train together in isolation in anticipation of reuniting with their teammates at Pizzey Park later this year.