The 2017 year proved to be a tougher one for pole vaulter Eliza McCartney. But then reaching the heights of 2016 – that included an Olympic medal – was always going to be a big ask.

The 20-year-old AIMES Supreme Award winner had been hoping to add a world athletics championships medal to the Olympic bronze she won in Rio. But it was not to be as McCartney was never able to find her best. She was hampered by injury that had restricted her build-up, bowing out at a disappointing height of 4.55 metres to finish ninth in London in August last year. This was well below her season's best, and Oceania record, of 4.82m she cleared in Auckland in February.
Eliza was hampered by the achilles tendon injury that severely restricted her world champs buildup and left her unable to train fully.
She told the press at the time that is was "hard to say" how much it had restricted her. "It's fine now and I can't feel anything so we got it to a really good place. But what's hard to work out is all the training I missed and how much of an effect that had. It was probably a factor.”
But that was 2017. 2018 is a new year and Eliza now has her sights set on a World Indoors and Commonwealth Games double. She is focusing on the positives as she prepares for a 2018 campaign that will have a major focus on a "home" Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. Eliza hopes to attend the world indoors championships in Birmingham in early March, then take in the national championships less than a week later in Hamilton followed by Athletics New Zealand's revamped international series to follow soon after as a build-up to the Commonwealth Games.
In early 2018 she told local press that "We're just working through the rehab programme. It takes time, and I've been strengthening it (the problem achilles tendon) so we've got a really good base – future proofing so it won't be a problem again hopefully.” She said she was tracking "full steam" to hit the ground running in February.
While she has been getting over her injury, McCartney has been able to work on other aspects of her vaulting that she believes will have positive spinoffs in 2018.
"I've been doing a lot of technical training, a lot of drills that hopefully will mean I've made some good improvements. Plus I've had the chance to work lots on the upper body.”
She’s excited about the Commonwealth Games. "This is the closest I'm probably going to ever get to a home Games, and that's what so exciting for me. Yes the competition maybe isn't as great, but there's something very special about competing in front of a 'home' crowd.”
Eliza continues to make her community proud. She enjoys a high profile and busy life but is always willing to get involved in giving back to the North Harbour Club, which is greatly appreciated. She was on hand to address attendees at the 2017 AIMES Emerging Talent and Junior Excellence Awards held at The Wharf in November.