New javelin, new heights for Robinson

Holly Robinson with the medals she won during her record-breaking weekend in Sydney. PHOTO: PETER...
Holly Robinson with the medals she won during her record-breaking weekend in Sydney. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH
Maybe Holly Robinson needs a new javelin for every major competition. It certainly did not hurt on Saturday.

She pulled out a massive world record minutes after taking it out of the plastic wrapping at Sydney's Olympic Park.

The throw of 45.73m smashed rival Hollie Arnold's previous mark of 44.43m in the F46 para-javelin.

It handed her Australian championships gold and bodes well as bigger things approach for the Otago Paralympian.

"It felt really easy," she said.

"I remember running down the runway and I was so in sync with what I was doing and the throw almost felt like slow motion.

"I let it go and it felt real good, and I was like `ooh, OK'.

"When we were walking around there was this mark on the javelin sector that was around 47m.

"It was close to that line, and I was like `oh my gosh, that's pretty big'.

"Then the distance came up and it was such a great feeling."

The big world record was promising, but so was beating her personal best by more than 2m.

Having been throwing for a long time now, improvements tended to be small - a few centimetres here and there.

"That's really promising for us. It shows that we're still improving and the things we're doing are working.

"We did try a few different things, especially over winter and over the last three or four weeks. We tried new things and they'd worked."

A break looms and she will head back to Hokitika over the school holidays and take a break from her job as a sports activator in schools in the greater Green Island catchment.

From there she will begin her build-up to November's world championships in Dubai.

That leads into next year's Tokyo Paralympics.

She will look to more of what she has been doing over the coming winter, trying to find the extra things that will help.

Her persistently niggling Achilles injury was improving too, although it still required some flexibility in how she approached training at times.

A trip to the Oceania championships in Townsville is likely.

She was unsure whether she would compete or just train in some warmer weather.

Australia would be on the agenda later in the year, too, as Robinson sought more competition prior to the world championships.

Improvements were key and she felt whoever won in Tokyo next year would have to throw significantly further than her record.

"I think it's going to take around 50m to win the gold medal next year.

"Hollie Arnold is getting better and better as well. So am I, so we're going to be pushing each other to get that top spot.

"I reckon 48m-50m is going to be what it takes to get the top spot."

Beyond that she hoped to continue on another cycle and her ultimate goal was to go to five Paralympics - Tokyo will be her third.

She would also like to do a master's in teaching, having enjoyed working with children in her present job.

Alongside her gold medal in the javelin, Robinson also snared a silver in the para-shot put on Sunday.

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