Mccartney upbeat and ready to soar again
It takes more than a nagging Achilles problem to bring Kiwi sporting high-flyer Eliza Mccartney crashing back to earth with a thud.
So while the Kiwi pole vault sensation continues to deal with the fallout from the injury that torpedoed her 2017 international season, she has her sights set on a world indoors-commonwealth Games golden double in 2018.
As ever, the 20-year-old Aucklander, and Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medallist, is focusing on the positives as she prepares for a 2018 campaign that will have a major focus on a ‘‘home’’ Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast (April 4-15).
Mccartney has confirmed she hopes to attend the world indoors championships in Birmingham from March 1-4 in a busy back end of the southern season that will also take in the national championships less than a week later in Hamilton and Athletics’ New Zealand’s revamped international series to follow soon after.
Mccartney told Stuff at the series launch she was still dealing with the Achilles tendonitis that applied a frustrating handbrake to her 2017 international campaign. ‘‘We’re just working through the rehab programme. It takes time, and I’ve been strengthening it so we’ve got a really good base – future proofing so it won’t be a problem again hopefully.’’
Medical prognosis was positive and she is tracking ‘‘full steam’’ to hit the ground running in February.
Mccartney remained upbeat about a ‘‘frustrating’’ 2017. After smashing her Oceania record in February with a PB 4.82-metre clearance, she never got the chance to take that form into her world championships campaign, and bowed out a disappointing ninth in London with 4.55m. A repeat of her February 4.82 would have won silver.
‘‘Before we headed to Europe I was jumping the highest I’ve ever done in training, and then literally the day we arrive overseas my Achilles gets hurt,’’ she reflected.
‘‘It was a real shame, especially for [coach] Jeremy [Mccoll]. We both knew what I was capable of. But that’s fine. I know what’s there and there’s still so much we can keep doing.’’
While she has been rehabbing her Achilles, Mccartney has been able to work on other aspects of her vaulting that she believes will have positive spinoffs in 2018.
‘‘I’ve been doing a lot of technical training, a lot of drills that hopefully will mean I’ve made some good improvements. Plus I’ve had the chance to work lots on the upper body.
‘‘It’s also another experience under your belt. I could get injured months before the Tokyo Olympics, and you need to know how to deal with those situations, and emotions. It’s part of being an athlete.’’
The Devonport athlete is excited about a 2018 season in which she is prioritising the Commonwealth Games above all. ‘‘This is the closest I’m probably going to ever get to a home Games, and that’s what so exciting for me. Yes the competition maybe isn’t as great, but there’s something very special about competing in front of a ‘home’ crowd.’’