Stratton eyes ticket to Tokyo
Published Fri 26 Mar 2021
On the 12th of March in 2016, Brooke Stratton had the world at her feet after breaking the Oceania and Australian record in the long jump with a leap of 7.05m. What she would not have envisioned to follow was the most challenging period of her career, but the champion is back in 2021 and looking to jump farther than ever before.
Stratton has declared that the goal for Saturday’s Queensland Track Classic is simple – qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
“My goal on Saturday is to absolutely qualify. I want to prove to myself that I can jump the qualifying standard, and I know that’s also going to take the pressure off,” she said.
“I do think I’m in good shape and that’s something I can achieve – anything over the 6.82 mark I’d be stoked with.”
Stratton is sitting pretty in terms of rankings and points ahead of Tokyo, and Saturday’s Continental Tour Silver permit meet certainly will help her cause if she can jump well, but the 6.82m mark is only the beginning of the star’s rejuvenated ambitions.
“I’d love to be jumping PBs or at least one PB, but when your PB is the Australian record, it gets a little hard to jump those distances all the time,” she said.
That is a prospect that would see the 27-year-old force her name into the upper echelon of women on the world scale, and in an Olympic year that can only mean one thing for the 7th place competitor at the Rio Olympics.
“I do feel like if everything goes to plan, and I stay healthy and injury free then I can achieve more. I’m wanting to consistently jump low 7 metres. I’d love to bring home a medal and as I said, you have to aim high and it’s not unrealistic to look at winning a medal.”
A modified training plan to aid a troublesome knee had seen Stratton switch to two gym sessions and four track sessions per week, ultimately cutting down her volume. Whilst admittedly not yet 100 per cent, Stratton is optimistic of what is to come when things start to click.
“It feels really good to be jumping so consistently but it’s frustrating because I want more and I know I’m capable of jumping further than 6.70. I’m happy to have started off the season jumping in the 70s so I’m looking at that next step now,” she said.
And she has identified exactly how she plans on doing just that.
“For me it’s about getting that run up right. I’ve done laser testing lately and my speed is the best it’s ever been, which is great but it’s been frustrating that I haven’t been able to take that momentum to get a longer jump,” she said.
Stratton will be on the runway at the Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre at 4:00pm, ready to take flight to Tokyo.
By Lachlan Moorhouse
Posted: 26/3/2021
