McCartney vaults into contention again

Kiwi pole vault sensation Eliza McCartney hopes she is only weeks away from being cleared for takeoff for a campaign that should see her leap into Tokyo Olympic medal contention.

In an interview with Stuff, the 23-year-old Aucklander confirmed she appears to have put her chronic Achilles and hamstring injuries behind her, that new medication looks to have hit the mark, that she is on track to be vaulting again next month and hit the competition runway by April and that the Olympic automatic qualifying mark of 4.70 metres is directly in her sights.

McCartney’s absence from the New Zealand summer domestic meets has led to speculation that her career could be on the ropes after she terminated her 2019 season prematurely on the back of an injuryravaged past few years.

Late last year she revealed the succession of injuries that had plagued her for much of this Olympic cycle had been the result of a genetic disorder that causes autoimmune inflammation and that she had started medication she hoped would address the issue.

Now, a couple of months on, the 2016 Rio bronze-medallist has told

Eliza McCartney, right

Stuff that rumours of her demise have been greatly exaggerated. Not only is she making major strides in training but all indications are she has been able to leave the chronic Achilles issues behind her.

‘‘I would be lying if I said I hadn’t thought that at some point in the last year,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s not necessarily I wouldn’t compete again, more: am I going to get back to what I’ve been able to do in the past and better?

Those thoughts are normal when you’re in dark periods like that.

‘‘But I’m completely confident I’ll be back competing. I’m looking at the earliest to be vaulting by the middle of March, which gives me time to be competing in April. The [Olympic] qualifying period finishes at the end of June, so if I’m lucky I’ll get in two months of competitions where I can hopefully qualify.

‘‘It’s looking great. I’ve been so excited at how well everything has been going and I’ve had almost no setbacks. It’s been incredible.’’

McCartney said after the frustrations of last yeaer – ‘‘it was just really difficult, going from setback to setback, problems after negative things’’ – she feels like a new person this year. She is now running at full speed, about to strap on the spikes and will soon start to feel the bend of the pole as she introduces vaulting to her training.

‘‘Every week there is some sort of positive, or improvement. I haven’t had any setbacks or anything worrying. It’s been the stark opposite of last year. I’m doing my absolute best to qualify and setting myself up the best I can. It couldn’t be going better in that regard, and I’m excited to give myself the best shot at qualifying.’’

Given her recent lack of activity and subsequent rankings slide, McCartney’s best shot at a spot in Tokyo is to clear the 4.70m automatic qualifying mark (subject to ratification from her national body). Given she has a personal best of 4.94m, it’s not a height she would normally break into a sweat about.

‘‘But the rational part of your brain goes ‘I haven’t done this height in ages, what if I can’t, what if I don’t know how?’ All those ridiculous thoughts come into your mind,’’ she says.

‘‘There are so many reasons to be confident, though. I should be able to just hit the ground running. I’m feeling as confident as I ever have, though I’m not taking anything for granted . . . this is sport and there’s always a chance this might not work out.’’

‘‘Every week there is some sort of positive, or improvement. It’s been the stark opposite of last year.’’