Posted by Christie Parkin on 03/07/2017
Hello everyone.
I hope you are all well and it’s not too cold in NZ! Since I have been in Europe for around 3 weeks now, I thought it would be a good time to send an update to you all. I’ve have had three competitions in the last 2 weeks, all Diamond League meets. The Diamond League circuit is a professional circuit where the best track and field athletes compete all across the world in high level competitions. The first was in Rome, Italy and went really well! I jumped 4.75m on my shorter 12 stride run up which is the highest I have ever opened a season. I placed third which is really good, but I was more happy with how well I competed and how much I enjoyed the competition in Rome. Jeremy and I were able to do a bit of sightseeing as well and it’s got me interested in Roman History. A bit of change from what I study for my science degree but one of the bonuses of competing in different countries is learning more about them.
The next two competitions were in Oslo then Stockholm. Unfortunately these two didn't go as well. I “no heighted" in Oslo then jumped only 4.20m in Stockholm. It was disappointing but I was battling with a very sore achilles, which had just popped up that week.
I’m back at my base in Germany now and have had my achilles looked at. It turns out I have the onset of tendinitis in my right achilles, which means I really need to rest up and get lots of treatment to nail it on the head. My next competition is the London Diamond League on the 9th of July, so hopefully I will be back vaulting by then.
World Champs is the major event of the European season for me, and that doesn’t begin until early August so we have plenty of time. Injuries happen with sport and it’s something that all athletes have to deal with, so I will keep training hard with what I can still do. I'm very lucky to have an amazing support team around me so I'm sure we will get through this just fine :)
Best wishes,
Eliza
