CARTWRIGHT FINISHES SEVENTH AT GAMES
KELLY Cartwright knows what it is like to be at the top of the world and then have to start again at the bottom.
Cartwright did it as a sports-loving 15-year-old when a rare form of cancer prompted the agonising decision to have her leg amputated above the knee. She did it when she learnt to run and jump on her prosthesis and broke world records on the way to winning athletics gold and silver medals at the London 2012 Paralympics.
Almost six years after permanent ankle damage forced a premature end to her sprinting and long-jump career, the 28-year-old is back to square one with a new pursuit on the Gold Coast.
And Cartwright could not be happier with her Commonwealth Games para-powerlifting debut, which is hardly surprising given her three lifts produced two personal bests and a world championships qualifier only eight months after picking up the gruelling bench-press discipline.
It is another triumph for her already-decorated sporting story, but she admits there is still much to learn.
“I was nervous being out there but I’m more nervous about people expecting things,” she said.
“I was No.1 in my class and won a gold medal. It’s not easy to swap over sports . . . I’ve come over to a very difficult, technical sport.
“It’s going to take many years, so I have to get that ego out of my head and realise I started somewhere in athletics and have to start somewhere with this.”
She started lifting while rehabilitating her ankle after post-London surgery.
On the realisation it was not getting better, she started bench pressing and was suddenly pushing competitive enough weights for a quick- fire Games qualifier.
In yesterday’s lightweight division, the tiny 47kg Cartwright lifted 64kg for seventh behind more experienced rivals, including Nigerian gold medallist Esther Oyema, whose lift of 131kg smashed her world record by 5kg.
“We’re going to go home now and work on the things I should have been doing before I came here,” said Cartwright, whose fiance Ryan and two-year-old son Max came to watch.
“I want do double body weight, that’s my aim, whether it’s at Tokyo or the next Comm Games.”