Raising the bar

Pole vault star Eliza McCartney says a rethink on the way she moves from trainer Matt Dallow has her free of injury and brimming with confidence. Marc Hinton reports.

They say you have to walk before you can run. For Kiwi pole vault star Eliza McCartney that has been especially true as she has rebuilt her whole way of moving in one last bid to save her stalled athletics career.

The good news was that a biomechanical reset, undertaken under the careful watch of new trainer Matt Dallow, appeared to have been, not only successful, but have her back on track for a tilt at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Unfortunately – and McCartney confirms she did this hard – July’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham come just too soon, and the surprise Olympic medallist from Rio in 2016 is now counting down to a likely competitive return in December this year.

All told, McCartney is finally in a good place on the back of her failure to qualify for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Since then she’s tucked away a much-needed three-month total break from the sport, a reshaping of her support team, and a 360-degree rethink on how she

‘‘The first week was spent making sure the way I walk is conducive to the way I run.’’

Eliza McCartney

operates as an athlete, including the very way she moves.

McCartney has spent much of the last four years plagued by mainly Achilles tendon and hamstring issues as she has failed to soar to the heights that saw her win that shock bronze in Brazil and then set her personal best, and national record, of 4.92 metres in Germany in 2018.

‘‘The main change we’ve made in the last six months has not been anything medical ... yes, we understand maybe I have some underlying susceptibilities to certain injuries, but actually we can