Whitelock in no Rio rush
ANY decision about the 2016 Rio Olympics is still a long way off for former Black Sticks captain Kayla Whitelock.
She has had about a year off from the sport after the birth of daughter Addison, who is nearly four months old, and has only just started working out again.
Whitelock started light training at the end of June and has built it up in the past few weeks to play a couple of pre-season games for the Central Mysticks ahead of the National Hockey League (NHL) at the end of the month.
Capped 229 times for New Zealand, she will see how the NHL goes before deciding whether she will make herself available for Black Sticks selection.
‘‘The toughest thing is going to be back-to-back performances,’’ she said. ‘‘There’s three games in a row up at tournament week; that will be tough. It’s just managing my body as well and getting my knee sorted.’’
The big question is whether she will go to Rio in what would be her fourth Olympics. Her first was Athens in 2004. ‘‘Potentially. I’ll see how the body is, just really how the programme is and obviously with Addison.’’
She said Rio had always been in the back of her mind. ‘‘It’s come around pretty quickly. I’ll just have to see how it goes.’’
The 29-year-old said she was still a long way off where she wanted to be and was getting used to the speed of the game, agility and footwork.
Whitelock has battled a knee injury throughout her career, and while it isn’t too bad now, that is another factor in her decision.
‘‘A good year
off has
probably been good for it. As the intensity gets up with back-to-back games, that’s where it will be tested really. I’ve still got a lot of strength work to do on it.’’
She said if the knee starts troubling her, it will make everything else harder.
Black Sticks coach Mark Hager has been in touch with her just to catch up and he will watch Whitelock in action in the first round of the NHL.
The last competitive game Whitelock played was the bronze medal match at the Commonwealth Games at Glasgow last year.