McCartney ready to soar again
Eliza McCartney is finally getting close to climbing out of the darkness and heading back towards the light again.
It can’t come soon enough either, although the world-class New Zealand pole vaulter has learned that when it comes to returning from injury, patience is definitely a virtue.
McCartney is nearing the end of yet another rehabilitation from an injury that nipped her season in the bud right when it looked to be heading for something special. It’s a situation that, regrettably, she is getting more and more used to as she continues to marry the delicate balance of her demanding sport and the toll it takes on her body.
The 22-year-old Aucklander, and Olympic bronze medallist, is nearing the end of a frustrating rehab from an upper hamstring tendon injury that cut her domestic season off at the knees, right after she had cleared 4.85 metres at the Potts Classic in Hastings. That still stands as the second best height knocked off by anyone, anywhere in 2019.
Given the gut-wrenching heel injury she suffered in the last international season, again when she was building towards a crack at that special 5-metre mark, and the Achilles tendon issues she had in 2017 that also put the handbrake on a promising campaign, it is fair to say it has become a pathway the perpetually positive Kiwi is becoming used to.
‘‘I’m getting there,’’ McCartney told Stuff of her return to vaulting activity.
‘‘If you’d asked me a week ago I would not have been nearly as confident. The last week of training has been really good. I’m working through my running training and getting to a place where I can be 100 per cent on the track before I start trying to vault again.’’
McCartney pushed the envelope over the Kiwi summer because she wanted to back up that Hastings clearance –
clinching her spot in the world championships lineup – and compete in front of her fellow Kiwis. But it was a mistake.
‘‘I never really got to 100 per cent and that’s why I never got all the way back,’’ she said.
‘‘This time there’s no rush. I’m doing everything I can to be 100 per cent on the track first. We’re hoping that will be in the next two weeks.’’
McCartney has time on her side.
Her pinnacle event, the world championships in Doha, is not until September 28-October 6. Her first Diamond League meet, in Shanghai on May 18, is the immediate aim. But it’s a flexible first hitout.
‘‘It’s not that far away, so it can be canned if need be,’’ adds McCartney. ‘‘I’m tracking fine for that one, and the rest shouldn’t be an issue.’’
By the middle of the year McCartney hopes to be back up around her personal best of 4.94m she cracked in Germany in 2018, before that untimely injury when she misjudged a landing and came down on the hard track.
‘‘That’s why I’m not rushing it now because it wouldn’t be worth ruining it for the end of the year,’’ she said.
‘‘I had a really good result in Hastings, was pretty pain-free that day, and I felt so confident.
‘‘But the most important part is Europe and the world champs, and it would be a lot more frustrating if I had to come home early and not compete in Doha.’’