Stephanie Ratcliffe

BIOGRAPHY

Overcoming a challenging couple of years during the pandemic when she lived between Melbourne and Harvard college in America, Stephanie Ratcliffe broke through in 2023 improving 10 metres in the hammer throw and breaking the 20-year-old Australia record. Unfortunately when preparing for her Olympic year she discovered in December 2023 she had a stress fracture in her back.

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Stephanie Ratcliffe recalled the start of her journey in athletics. “I remember dad taking me to the Doncaster track one Saturday morning to watch little athletics and straight away I told him I wanted to try it. I was very disappointed when he told me I had to wait another year before I could start because I was too young! I started athletics when I was 5 at Doncaster Little Athletics Club.”
She enjoyed every event and especially the hurdles, discus and shot put, ahead of focusing on throwing events aged 12. She picked up a hammer a month before she turned 13 after watching someone throw it at training. It wasn’t until she was 16, she decided to focus all her training time on hammer.

Stephanie made good progress winning Victorian titles and national junior medals through her late teens.
In 2019 she won the Australian U20 hammer throw title and now had a PB of 59.82. Just before the pandemic, in late 2019, she took up a scholarship in America. She was seeking a better balance between her academics and athletics and to be exposed to a higher level of competition. When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, she returned to Melbourne. 
“I came back home to study remotely for 18 months and my training took a massive step back. Throughout this period, I only trained for six weeks in the lead up to the 2021 Australian champs.” Later in 2021 she returned to America for one semester before a return to Australia where during 2022 she took summer classes remotely and extra subjects during her final two semesters. “I spent 2022 focusing on athletics and building some really consistent training habits and finally fell back in love with the sport again.”

For her last year at Harvard, she returned to America and her performances were on the improve. While in Australia during 2022 her best throw was 64.04m and she won her second National silver medal, but one year on she would add 10 metres to that PB level. 

She competed indoors in 2023, throwing the Weight implement (9kg) an Ivy-League and Harvard record of 21.88m. Outdoors, from January 2023, she set seven PBs, starting with 64.04m, then 64.66m, 66.18m, 67.61m, 70.15m, 70.59m, 73.11m, 73.63m. She was undefeated until July in Europe and set PBs and Australian records in her two biggest meets, her NCAA regionals and the NCAA final. The Australian record had stood for 20 years and her 73.63m throw was a world championships qualifier and #8 in the world for 2023. At the world championships in Budapest, Stephanie threw 69.87m in the qualifying rounds.

Ahead of her 2024 season, she sustained an injury which prevented her from training for three months. She eventually resumed competition in April. Two 70 metre throws in June put her in contention to qualify for the Paris Olympics through World Athletics points.

Coaching: growing up in Australia - Andrew Stirling and Allan Watson; America/Harvard - Brandon Amo; Australian-based - Matthew Horneman; current America/University of Georgia coach - Don Babbitt… Education: Bachelor of Neuroscience at Harvard University in Boston - graduated May 2023. Masters of Business Analytics at the University of Georgia (August 2023 - current)... Enjoyment of throwing events: She loves the objective measure of how good you are and clear progression the event allows. She also like the technical challenges of the event…Other Sports (particularly during the pandemic) wakeboarding at Victoria's Goughs Bay and snowboarding at Mount Buller…Most memorable sporting achievement: Her NCAA East Regional Championships. “I set a two and a half metre pb of 73.11m and was when I eclipsed the Australian record for the first time. It also qualified me for the NCAA Championships as the top seed and made missing my Harvard graduation that day all worth it. This competition gave me so much confidence, especially only being a 3-round meet, and helped with the realisation that there are no boundaries to my progression…Hero: Dani Stevens… Most influential person in your career: Her parents. They are the ones who have been there for me from day one, always reminding me that I am capable of achieving anything I set my mind to. They have opened up so many opportunities for me and my achievements will always be a tribute to them…Advice to your young self: Always trust the process. Don’t rush through your sporting career, every athlete has their own individual progression so try your best not to compare yourself to others. Focus on showing up everyday and giving it everything you have given the challenges you are faced with. There are going to be way more bad days than good ones, that’s the reality of being an elite athlete and pushing yourself to the limits of what you can achieve so enjoy the ride and remember that when everything falls into place it will all be worth it…Sporting ambition: “I don’t like to think too far ahead but my next major goals are to make the top 8 in Budapest and to medal at the 2024 Olympics.”… Biggest challenge you've faced: Learning to deal with sudden and continual changes in individual circumstances and how to maintain quality training during these times. Going to university in the US and this coinciding with the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in moving back and forth between Australia and the US unpredictably. This also brought about many changes in coaching situations resulting in long periods without a coach to the other extreme of having multiple coaches in short periods of time.  Then in December 2023 learning she had a stress fracture in her back…Interesting fact: Half Norwegian (Mother, Father Australian) …Competing as a Type 1 diabetic: She has been a diabetic since she was aged six. With morning practices, she needs to be careful as she experiences a spike in blood sugars after her first meal, then a drop after. She knows she has to be super organised, especially on meet days and mentally prepared for anything and there have been some hiccups at meets. To assist her she has an insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor.  

@ 23 June 2024 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au