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International Women’s Week: Medals and rare mettle

With #Accelerate Action the theme for this year’s International Women’s Week, NSWIS has cherry-picked some of the most inspiring quotes from its cohort of female scholarship holders to provide insights into the determination and grit that has driven the Institute’s Olympians, Paralympians, world championship medallists and athletes who have redefined courage to celebrate their incredible contribution, be it medals or mettle, to world sport.

From triple Olympic gold medallist Jesicca Fox to two-time Olympian Sarah Carli – who completed one of Australian sport’s most incredible fightbacks – the words of these NSWIS athletes not only resonate, but inspire . . .

ABSORBING PRESSURE

Jessica Fox - Gold Medallist Paris 2024 Games

“Pressure is an interesting thing, and it comes with the territory. There’s that old saying – and I really love it – ‘pressure is a privilege’.

“That’s kind of the approach I take. Whatever pressure is out there [I think] ‘how special is it that I’m even in this position to be able to try and go out there and defend a title?’

Jessica Fox, three-time Olympic canoe slalom champion

DREAM B.I.G.

It’s crazy that [the Olympic gold medal] is mine.

“You don’t really dare to dream this big, but I really did this time and I dared to dream to get to the Olympics and then to get to that final.

“When I saw in the last up [gate] that I was first, it was pure joy — there’s no words to describe that feeling.”

Noemie Fox, 2024 Paris Olympics slalom cross gold medallist

POWER OF ONE

“It was really exhausting. I was sick constantly, weak and couldn’t get out of bed most days. I spent pretty much 18 months in bed not being able to move very much.

“I did get out as much as I could, but it was exhausting, it was draining and I was constantly not feeling well. It was a pretty tough time.

“At the time I tried to stay as positive as possible. I knew if I kept smiling and kept pushing through, I was going to be fine, and I had that mentality through the whole thing.

“I never let the thoughts of the worst that could happen pop into my head, I stayed thinking about what was the best that could happen, and the positive thoughts are what got me through it, I think.”

Chloe Osborn, 2024 Paris Paralympic silver medallist & cancer survivor

NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER

“I was competing against girls five or six years older than me and realized I could do really well. They used to beat the crap out of me, no doubt, but that’s what made me better.

Danijela Jackovich, Olympic silver medallist (interviewed 2011 aged 16)

CONVICTION, NOT RESTRICTION

“Everyone’s worked hard. Everyone’s talented, and everyone’s got capabilities within them.

“It bubbles down to who can hold their cool on the day . . . who can be in the moment and have the conviction of self.”

Eleanor Patterson, 2022 World high jump champion, 2024 Olympic bronze medallist.

SPIRITUAL STRENGTH

“Eternal perspective, having a perspective of eternity, [means] I have confidence in God for everything I do – including the biggest things in my life.

“I believe this life isn’t just for this life, it’s for eternity. I’m with Him. I have faith that what He’s done is enough to cover my entire life, and I want to meet Him. When I’ve got faith big enough for that then what’s centimetres on a high jump bar?

“The eternal perspective could mean that a particular competition might not be important in eternity, but I like to flip [that thought] around [to say] if the biggest decisions that are partnered with faith are important, then every single decision that follows is just as important. It transcends all of that.”

Nicola Olyslagers, 2020 & 24 Olympic high jump silver medallist

INNER FAITH

“Self-belief is so, so important. To back yourself – to trust yourself – and know you’re ready to do the things you’re doing is very important.

“We’re in an extreme sport where there are potentially serious consequences to what you’re doing. But as soon as that doubt creeps into your mind that’s when things can start to go wrong, and you can literally go downhill and seriously risk injury [which means] losing training time or even not training at all.

COMMITMENT MEETS STUBBORNESS

“At first I was horrible at everything. I tried a bunch of things and I was so unco-ordinated. It was a disaster! I tried basketball and had no ball skills or co-ordination at all.

“Eventually I tried athletics and I wasn’t good to begin with. It’s really difficult to get the hang of it, because none of it comes naturally. Even for someone who’s used to being in a chair, pushing an actual race chair is a completely different feeling. Mum was like, ‘If you want to stop and try something new, we can do that.’ But I was stubborn, and I was committed.”

Madison de Rozario, 2020 Paralympic T54 marathon & 800m T53 champion

DREAM BRAVE

“My tattoo . . . ‘as much as I dream can I be’ . . . it’s important to me because I think as a young athlete, I struggled a lot with self-confidence and self-belief. And I had a tendency to choke under pressure in competition.

“That tattoo, I guess, just marks a bit of a change in perspective for me and a bit of growth – and maturity – as an athlete. Realizing that, basically, the only limitations are the ones that I put on myself.”

Melissa Wu, Olympic silver and bronze medallist

HOPE FOR THE BEST, PREPARE FOR THE WORST

“The reality of working in the hospital in this junior doctor role is taxing in a way that I didn’t quite expect. [And I love it] but at the end of the day when you’ve kind of seen so much and been on your feet the entire day, the thought of putting my gear on and going to training is sometimes a burdensome thought.

“But it kind of fits in with my philosophy that I kind of take into training, which is that I train when I’m sick and tired and jet-lagged and stressed, and in all kinds of adverse conditions so that in a competition when inevitably I have a cold, I have just come off a 24-hour plane flight the morning before, when anything can go wrong in a competition, I’ve actually trained in those conditions multiple times.”

Dr Mackenzie Little, 2023 world championships bronze medallist (javelin)

GOLD DOESN’T ALWAYS GLITTER

“I do think that winning is just turning up to the start line, and, for me, I wasn’t going to be [at Tokyo] in career best shape and we knew that [after a serious accident that required me needing life-saving surgery].

“So, I guess, I really had to change my goals . . . but sometimes . . . a time on the board doesn’t reflect everything that you’ve been through to get to the start line.

“And for me, the time when the board did not reflect what the last five months had look like and we knew that. And I think being kind to myself and knowing that just being there and having gone through what I did was probably I guess I was it was a gold medal for me.”

Sarah Carli OLY 400m hurdler

THE INDOMINITABLE SPIRIT

“My leg smashed into the ground, you know, I have no control over my legs and it flung back, and I have extensive injuries with my pelvis and changes in my body I’ve had to deal with to get through since March. It came to a point where I had to stop chasing doctors to try and fix myself. I just needed to get preparation done for Paris. I just needed to focus my attention on that, and I’d sort my body out after Paris.”