Boden Bows Out | Lauren Boden Retirement

On an Autumn Wednesday of 2006, 17-year-old Lauren Boden swapped her school shoes for spikes as she made her senior Australian debut at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Now, after an illustrious career spanning over 15-years – Boden is completing the circle by heading back to the classroom. 

The word ‘retirement’ can be an intimidating prospect for any athlete, but Boden’s preference to phrase the move as ‘refocusing’ provides great insight into her psychic – adamant that applying her drive and passion to teaching will fill the hole left by athletics. 

“I’m very internally driven and am always searching for ways to be better, that’s my mentality with everything. With athletics you have to strive to be better and faster and stronger every season, and teaching is no different,” she said.

The decision comes over three years after originally planning to bow out of the sport after a home Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018, but with the door ajar and Boden having made every national team since 2010 – the 400m hurdler decided to march on with Tokyo on the horizon. 

“A few things in life changed and I was able to keep pursuing my athletic career to the Doha World Championships, and then the carrot of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the allure of becoming a triple Olympian was something I wanted to pursue,” she said.

A delayed Olympics had the odds stacked against the Australian, who spent the final two years of her career training through COVID-19 lockdowns with the hope of wearing the green and gold one final time – narrowly missing out on rankings in the eleventh hour of the qualification period.

“That was devastating, it took a while to process but at the same time it afforded me the opportunity to reflect on my career and all the great things I achieved that I never thought I would,” she said. 

“I was able to process everything and come to terms with retiring from elite competition, and it was a very natural process – I just let the feelings I had evolve and as I got less emotional thinking about it, I knew it was the right time to step away.”

Despite winning her first national title at 16-years-old and competing at two Olympic Games in the 400m hurdles, Boden says that breaking 55-seconds (54.87) at the 2019 Australian Track and Field Championships made all the hard work worthwhile – along with a rare 400m hurdles, 4x400m and long jump triple at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. 

“The long jump is something that I always had in the back of my mind, but the training for that isn’t really conducive to the 400m hurdles. To be able to have the home crowd join me on the runway and to get the clap going, it’s one of my favourite memories in the sport,” she said. 

Coached by Matt Beckenham for the best part of 20-years, the 13-time national champion says that their partnership formed the pillar of her career and is one that she will be eternally grateful for – along with thanking the Canberra community, ACTAS and the AIS for their integral services. 

“To think that we have achieved so much together is really special. I have no doubt that everything I have achieved is in large because of him, not just because of his coaching but because of his passion and empathy – he really cares about his athletes as people first,” she said. 

Entering her fourth year as a primary school teacher, Boden says that it’s a privilege to have a job that is both equally as challenging and rewarding as athletics – targeting a new legacy in the classroom after leaving one on the track:

“I’d like to think I found the balance between being a hard competitor but a friendly face, and someone who consistently brought their best.” 

Congratulations Lauren on an outstanding career. 

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 27/01/2022