The (changing) time of her life
The silver medal had barely been hung around her neck before the text messages, phone calls, media requests and Facebook friend requests came flooding in.
Everybody wanted a piece of Natalie Rooney.
Competing in the women’s trap event, the 28-year-old from Waimate had just won New Zealand’s first medal at the Rio Olympics, finishing second behind Australian Catherine Skinner in the gold medal shoot off.
While Rooney’s initial celebrations were low-key in the ‘‘bubble’’ she called Rio de Janeiro, she had little idea how big of a deal New Zealand was making of the country’s greatest Olympic shooting result.
An electronic billboard boasting the result alerted commuters along Christchurch’s Bealey Ave, while radio, television, social media and internet news sites were also abuzz.
Hometown Waimate and Timaru, where Rooney attended secondary school from year nine and now lives, both laid claim to her.
‘‘I had heaps of messages and it was hard trying to get back to everyone, I still don’t think I did,’’ Rooney said.
‘‘And people just shamelessly adding you on Facebook. I’m like, ‘Come on guys, I don’t even know you,’. I’m pretty private when it comes to that kind of stuff.’’
With trap shooting one of the first scheduled events in Rio, Rooney stayed on board for the rest of the Games, spending most of her time supporting fellow Kiwi athletes.
In the Olympic village, Rooney was ‘‘just another athlete’’, and it wasn’t until she returned home after the games that she started to notice life might not be what it was before she blasted her way to a silver medal.
‘‘When you came home it was just so much bigger, it’s kind of crazy. You didn’t really know what was going on,’’ she said. ‘‘A lot of people get in contact with you wanting to do stuff.’’
Among other public appearances since Rooney returned home, she has visited multiple schools, got ‘‘grunged’’ on children’s television show What Now, and was on hand at the national secondary schools clay target championships in Christchurch last weekend.
She was also the halftime attraction alongside Timaru shot putter and Rio bronze medallist Tom Walsh at the All Blacks-south Africa test match in Christchurch this month.
Being recognised in public has become more common for Rooney, something she described as a ‘‘little bit overwhelming’’.
‘‘Most of the time people just stare at you or double-take, I get that a lot. Especially with the kids, they get really shy with you. It’s a weird situation.
‘‘I’m still Natalie Rooney, but I just have a silver medal at home. Other people treat you different, but you’re still the same person.’’
But Rooney is lapping up the opportunities her success at the Olympics have opened up.
‘‘I need to sort myself out and maybe get a manager so I can maybe get some sponsorship to keep it going,’’ she said. ‘‘Because I don’t want to end up at the end of the year and have nothing to show for it - I’ve got to sort my life out.
‘‘If I hadn’t won the medal, I probably would have come home and gone straight back to work and nothing would have changed. Whereas now, I haven’t been back to work yet.’’
Rooney, a qualified accountant, works for her father Gary’s earthmoving business when she can, mostly helping out with billing and resource consents.
‘‘I don’t think anyone else would employ me with all my other commitments,’’ Rooney said.
Apart from a $20,000 grant from High Performance Sport New Zealand last December, Rooney has received very little funding between taking up the sport 14 years ago and winning silver in Rio, and credits her father and late mother Adrienne, Italian-based coach Andrea Miotto, and sponsor Beretta for her success.
Rooney’s mother died in May, 2013, after a three-year battle with breast cancer. Adrienne was diagnosed with the disease before the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, but ‘‘didn’t do anything about it until after because she didn’t want to tell me’’, Rooney said.
Despite having chemotherapy and finishing treatment in the middle of 2012, the cancer had spread and it was too late.
After initially being named in the New Zealand team for the London 2012 Olympics, Rooney was all set for her mother to watch her on the biggest sporting stage of all.
However, when Rooney was replaced by Ryan Taylor after he appealed his non-selection to the New Zealand Sports Tribunal, the ‘‘devastating’’ blow derailed her dream.
‘‘She’s always there in the back of your mind, she was always there for me with my shooting and she always supported me with dad,’’ she said.
‘‘We all find it hard. We’re not a huge family that likes to discuss things. It’s been hard on all of us, dad especially.’’
But Rooney has fond memories of her childhood to help counter her loss.
She and brothers Sam, 31, Cameron, 26, and William, 22, grew up on a deer farm, which the family still owns, about 7km from the small South Canterbury town of Waimate.
Located just a few kilometres from the farm, Rooney attended Waituna Creek School in her primary years, before spending year seven and eight at Waimate High School.
She then boarded at Timaru’s Craighead Diocesan School for five years, and went on to study accountancy at Canterbury University in Christchurch.
‘‘Mum used to always take all us kids to all the sports events that she could get us to,’’ Rooney said.
‘‘I remember growing up, she didn’t force us into it, but she definitely encouraged us. I played basketball, netball, athletics and rugby. She used to come and support us at everything. She was just incredible.
‘‘Before she got sick, she would go to all the shooting trips with me. We had a few cool trips to Germany.
‘‘Waituna was a fantastic place to grow up, being on the farm. I loved growing up there and being out in the country and I don’t think I could do it again in the city. I’m very much a country person when it comes to bringing up a family.’’
Rooney recently returned to Waituna Creek School to show off her silver medal, and she and fellow Waimate Olympian, cyclist Dylan Kennett, were also celebrated at a public celebration in the new Waimate Event Centre.
Her father now lives in Studholme, a small settlement 7km east of Waimate, and has a trap range on the property for Rooney to hone her craft on.
With no South Island facilities boasting automatic traps, training at the family home provides the best preparation for the Olympic trap discipline, although there is talk Christchurch will upgrade to automatic traps in the future.
An upgrade would possibly result in Rooney moving to the Garden City, although that wouldn’t please her father, she said.
‘‘He likes having his children around him. He likes seeing me turn up and train, sometimes he even joins me with my shooting.’’
Auckland and Hamilton have ideal facilities and Rooney is considering her options as she casts an eye towards the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but any decision will be influenced by funding and sponsorship.
She hopes to inspire others to shoot, and the club she started at Craighead when she took up the sport is still going strong today.
‘‘I’ve had good feedback from people wanting to try it. I even had a friend that coaches in Ireland say people over there had been inspired by me to try it.’’
In the meantime, Rooney left for Rome on Monday to prepare for next month’s final World Cup event in the Italian capital, her last international event of the year.
‘‘I’m still Natalie Rooney, but I just have a silver medal at home. Other people treat you different, but you’re still the same person.’’ Natalie Rooney