Imogen Ayris’ surprise bronze medal in Birmingham came with a compelling
backstory.
MARC HINTON
reports.
There are bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games, and then there are bronze medals. The third-place finish by Kiwi pole vaulter Imogen Ayris in Birmingham most definitely fell into the latter category as the perennial bridesmaid of Jeremy McColl’s crack Auckland jumping squad finally had her day in the sun.
It was an emotional and poignant achievement at Alexander Stadium in early-August when Ayris, for so long the third wheel in McColl’s group of vaulters behind Rio 2016 Olympics bronze medalist Eliza McCartney and the young woman considered her heir apparent, Olivia McTaggart, soared over 4.45 metres at the first attempt, and into third place for the competition, nudging team-mate McTaggart out of the final podium spot.
Among New Zealand’s six medals in athletics at the Games – two of each hue – Ayris’ achievement was the most meritorious considering where the 21-year-old Aucklander, and three-time national champion, has come from, and the tough road she has traversed to get there.
“It’s so special. After my dad (Barny) passed two years ago, I promised that I would make him proud, and I feel like I’ve done more than that,” reflected Ayris in Birmingham after her surprise, and hugely popular, bronze medal was clinched. “My dad’s brother and sister were here today, and my dad’s aunty. All his family was here…it’s so special.”
Ayris spoke before heading to Birmingham about the influence of her father who
had been her biggest supporter since she took up the pole vault in 2014, coming out of a gymnastics background that lends itself ideally to the requirements of the technical pursuit.
“Not long after he passed was when I jumped my 4.50 (PB). That was really special. I just always wanted to make him proud. I had to come through a lot of hard times, potentially some of the toughest I’ll ever go through, and to be able to still come out and perform and train every day and knowing I’m doing it for him, and how proud he would be if he was here…”
Ayris has certainly not lacked motivation, or perspective, as she’s toiled away behind McCartney and McTaggart, often bowing out of events before one or the other even entered the competition. But she steadily closed the gap between her lauded squad mates, and never lost sight of the bigger picture.
“Eliza is exactly four years older than me to the day, and it’s been so awesome seeing her progression, seeing that it’s doable, how much hard work you have to put in and how much you get out of it. Following in Eliza’s footsteps four years later has been really special for me, growing up as a pole vaulter and seeing what she’s done and being able to target these things.”
It was not exactly promising for Ayris heading into Birmingham after she no heighted at 4.20m in qualifying at the world championships in Oregon and bowed out in ignominious fashion. But the youngster did not let that weigh her down and bounced back splendidly in the year’s other pinnacle event.
What is more, she did it through gritted teeth, later revealing that not only had she competed with a broken bone in her hand – an old gymnastics injury that was discovered when she snapped a pole and ripped her hand open earlier this year – but also with a fracture in her foot.
“It has been a little niggly for a while. When I got off the plane in America (before July’s world championships for a session) I felt it a bit, but I just thought that it was from the travel,” Ayris told reporters in Birmingham post-event while wearing a moon boot…
“I kept training on it, it kind of went away, and then it came back a bit. We were strapping it up for training sessions, did not modify any training, and then after competition we got it scanned to figure out what was really going on, and it was fractured.”
For Ayris, it was little more than a speed bump.
“I’m quite good at ignoring pain,” she added with a smile. “I’ve jumped with some pretty wacky injuries in the past, so it didn’t affect me at all. I didn’t want to make it a thing if it wasn’t a thing.”
As New Zealand’s latest pole vault achiever well knows, no pain, no gain.
New Zealand athletics at the Commonwealth Games:
6 medals, 12 top-6 finishes and 3 personal-best performances.
Gold medals: Tom Walsh, men’s shot; Hamish Kerr, men’s high jump.
Silver: Julia Ratcliffe, women’s hammer; Jacko Gill, men’s shot.
Bronze: Maddi Wesche, women’s shot; Imogen Ayris, women’s pole vault.