In the first of our feature pieces focused on athletes in the NZ Paralympic Team for Paris 2024 we thrust the spotlight on Paralympian #183 Holly Robinson who is set for a for a very different experience at what will be her fourth Paralympic Games.
Throughout an outstanding career boasting a proud collection of global medals capped by a brilliant gold in the Women’s Javelin F46 at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Holly Robinson has never been one to shirk a challenge.
So, when news filtered through that the IPC had introduced a Women’s Shot Put F46 into the schedule for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, the Dunedin-based athlete found the opportunity to fully embrace an event she had not contested seriously for more than a decade too tempting.
“I started out competing in the shot, javelin and discus as a young thrower and at my first Para Athletics World Championships in 2011 I competed in both the shot and javelin,” she explains.
“In all honesty, had the event (shot put F46) not been taken off the World Championships and Paralympic Games schedule, I was probably more geared towards the shot put but I decided javelin was the way to go,” she explains.
That was until 2022 when Holly learned that in the drive for greater female participation at the Paralympic Games, the Women’s Shot Put F46 was to be a part of the programme for Paris 2024.
For the Hokitika-raised athlete this represented “a great opportunity” for a fresh focus.
“Over time Javelin was becoming increasingly hard on the body, and after winning a Paralympic gold medal (in javelin) I was searching for a new challenge. I’m no long jumper or sprinter, but the shot put gave me the option of becoming a double medallist at the Paris 2024 Games, which has given me a renewed energy.”
Holly has found the challenge of trying to master a second event exciting but juggling the training demands – under the guidance of long-time coach Raylene Bates – of two events has presented its challenges both physically and mentally.
“I don’t think I understood how taxing on the body adding another event to my training load has been,” she says. “I realised I needed to work on my recovery and my expectations around shot put. People would see me competing or training and ask why I was throwing the shot, which sometimes made me question if competing in both events was the right thing to do. That level of expectation has been tough to get my head around.”
Thankfully, the move to the shot has been a roaring success. The 29-year-old athlete has won back-to-back Shot Put F46 silver medals at the 2023 and 2024 Para Athletics World Championships – achieving the latter in Kobe with a stunning Oceania record mark of 12.25m.
“I thought I had podium potential but because I had not done the event for many years, I didn’t really know where I stood,” she adds. “To win a silver medal in Kobe with my first PB at a major event for many years was a nice feeling.”
Yet while the shot put has gone like a dream, injuries have taken a toll on the javelin. Undergoing elbow surgery in early 2023 – in her only javelin competition of the year she placed fourth at the Paris 2023 Para Athletics World Championships in the Javelin F46.
Suffering a calf injury at the 2024 New Zealand Track & Field Championships has further stalled her competitive opportunities in javelin and self-doubts emerged.
“It has been a mental challenge. If I’m honest, I had a tough domestic season. I injured my calf at nationals and every competition this season knocked my confidence, I felt like I didn’t even know how to throw.”
However, working with her sports psychologist Rod Corban to focus more on technique rather than outcomes and enjoying a successful period of re-hab following the calf injury she recently underwent a training trip to Perth, which included a couple of competitions. While in Western Australia, Holly enjoyed two confidence boosting performances and it has reignited her motivation and belief.
“I’m in a good space now, it has given me renewed confidence that I have not felt in a while. I’ve had a mental block (with the javelin) but having seen the positive changes in Perth it makes me very happy and excited leading into Paris.”
Delighted that her long-time coach, Raylene Bates, will serve as the NZ Paralympic Team Chef de Mission – Holly believes Raylene “holds the values and mana that embodies a team leader” – she is looking forward to the challenge ahead in Paris at her fourth Paralympic Games.
“I only have a day between my two events, and I don’t have a lot of experience of competing in two events as a major championship, but I want to defend my title and win a secondary medal in shot put,” she says. “I know I am capable of both.”
