Dunedin Paralympian Anna Grimaldi is slipping on the black singlet for her sixth world championships this week — but it is her first major international event without long jump.
After a glittering Paris Paralympics on the track — walking away as the T47 200m champion and 100m bronze medallist — Grimaldi’s focus for the world championships in New Dehli has been on her running.
"I think just the experience is going to be really cool," Grimaldi, 28, said.
"I’ve never done any competition where I’ve not long-jumped, so we’re breaking new ground as well."
New ground will also be broken in her 200m class at the world championships, after the event "exploded" as one of the only disciplines to have a full three rounds.
Heats, semifinals and finals are rare in para events and Grimaldi said it was a great nod for the group of athletes that were willing to put themselves out there for the sport.
"It’s going to be new for me and everyone in our field. That is a really positive spin on our category and our event and hopefully I inspired a few people to pick it up after the Games.
"It’s new territory for our classification, which is really exciting too."
Grimaldi has already tested herself in new territory this season, making her Diamond League debut in the women’s para 100m mixed classification at the Prefontaine Classic in July.
It was "epic" — "I felt really honoured to be there and excited to lap up that experience" — and while she did not run as well as she wanted, it gave her perspective for where she needed to head.
"You kind of get a bit of a kick up the butt to figure out what is going to make the difference in the next two, three months before you compete again.
"It’s given us a direction that we kind of need. It was also just a great experience over there training and competing in extreme heat."
Heat was a major theme in the build-up to the world championships as she looked to add more tools to her kit to battle the New Dehli temperatures.
As part of her build up, Grimaldi spent time training in the environmental chamber — a sealed room in which temperature and humidity can be controlled — at the University of Otago physical education department.
"We’re so lucky to have the uni and those sorts of facilities.
"It was super helpful. I don’t know if it necessarily helps in terms of actually adapting to the heat, but it helps mentally knowing that we’ve set it at pretty extreme temperatures and knowing that I can get through a session pretty well in there and mentally be able to handle that heat."
The past couple of weeks had been rocky after she was struck down with influenza A when she arrived in Cairns for training.
But she had recovered and was back training and looked forward to the chance to test herself against the best in the world again.
"Every opportunity that I get to compete for our country is super special and just because it’s my sixth doesn’t mean anything less than my first.
"It’s always really special ... and I’m really proud to have had such an amazing season last year and even domestically this year, it’s been pretty good.
"Just looking forward to getting out there and giving it a go."
