‘I STRUGGLED LIVING IN MY MUM’S SHADOW’
The daughter of Olympic hero Nova Peris has had to confront a lot of past trauma and heartache
Despite stepping into the spotlight this week on Seven’s SAS Australia, Jessica Peris, daughter of Olympic legend Nova Peris, has struggled to find her own path in life.
“It was very challenging growing up as my mother’s daughter,” athlete Jess, 31, tells Woman’s Day. “With everything that she had achieved in her life, which was so exceptional, it kind of made it quite hard for me to achieve something because you’re always compared to her accomplishments.”
Nova, 50, was the first Indigenous Australian to win a gold medal when she competed as part of the Australian women’s hockey team at the 1996 Olympic
Games. In 1997, she switched from sports to sprinting and went on to compete at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
But with these accolades comes sacrifice, and watching her mother navigate through the lows of her career made Jess think twice about following in her footsteps.
“A lot of people only saw the end result, her accomplishments, but I saw the good, the bad and the ugly,” she says.
“I didn’t want to endure the things that she had to go through. It definitely wasn’t easy.
“There was so much pressure, and I saw things that my mum put up with in regards to being racially discriminated, so there was a lot of fears as a kid wanting to pursue the same life that my mum did.”
SCANDALOUS RISE
It wasn’t until Jess became an adult that she thought about entering athletics professionally. But those dreams came to a grinding halt when she returned a positive test result to prohibited substances during a training session in 2017. Jess was banned from the track for four
years and forced to withdraw from the 2018 Commonwealth Games, where she was tipped to be a shining star.
“I was completely broken and lost,” she admits.
“I kept pushing things to the side, and putting on a brave face but ultimately I just couldn’t handle it any more.”
Jess reveals the media frenzy that followed, due to her carrying her mother’s name, became too much and resulted in her being rushed to hospital after overdosing on sleeping pills in 2019.
But two years later, Jess is back and ready to face her fears – and past traumas – on the new season of SAS Australia.
“SAS has changed my life,” she says. “It wasn’t just about the physical challenge but more about the mental challenge.
It was an opportunity to stop suppressing my emotions that I have had over the years.”
It has also reignited Jess’ flame for sprinting again.
“I’m back doing some track sessions. That’s been a huge leap, because it was a place that brought me so much anxiety. But I’m finally comfortable enough to be in that place again and train,” she adds.
“I’m still unsure whether
I want to return to athletics. The emotional trauma that I’ve experienced over the last couple of years makes me a little hesitant, but I believe that after my time on SAS, anything is possible.”
‘ SAS was an opportunity to stop suppressing my emotions’
ON THE RIGHT TRACK
“It’s taken some time but I’m finally at a really great place, both mentally and physically. I’ve finally found happiness and my mum couldn’t be more proud.”
Right now, Jess, who lives in Darwin with her partner Nathan and 12-year-old son Isaac, says she’s found happiness working at a non-for-profit helping Indigenous communities and is content on watching her son from the sidelines as he begins his journey into sport.
“He’s extremely talented and has so much potential but I guess with me and my experiences with growing up, I just constantly remind him no matter what path he chooses to take in life, I’ll love him unconditionally.”
Hugh Jackman thanked fans last week for their support, after the death of his beloved dad Christopher Jackman on Father’s Day at the age of 84.
“Your heartfelt messages, love and prayers are being felt. Thank you all so much Love, HJ,” the Aussie actor wrote on his Instagram story on September 7.
The actor’s celebrity pals also rallied around the 52-year-old star, following the tragic news. “I was lucky to have met him,” commented Ryan Reynolds. “So sorry Hugh. Sending love,” wrote fellow Aussie Naomi Watts.
“My Dad was, in a word, extraordinary,” wrote the New York-based star, who returned to Sydney for a fleeting visit in June. “He devoted his life to his family, his work and his faith. I pray he is now at peace with God.”
Hugh was particularly close to his British-born accountant father, as he raised the actor and his brothers, Ian and Ralph, in Sydney as a single dad after their mother, Grace Mcneil, left the family and moved back to her native UK when Hugh was just eight.
“I stayed in Australia with my father and two brothers, and had a tough time for a while. But, you know, I had a very good father who was always there for us and I could never even imagine what it must have been like to raise kids on his own the way he did for many years. I don’t think I could have done that. You need an iron will and I never heard him complain,” said Hugh of his dad’s dedication.
While The Greatest Showman star once described his mum’s actions as “traumatic”, they have reconciled in recent years, and just last month Hugh shared a pic of the smiling pair hugging. But he’s always made it clear his dad was number one.
“My father is a rock. My father is my rock,” he shared in 2012. “It’s where I learned everything about loyalty, dependability, being there day in, day out, no matter what.”