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AFTER success in weightlifting, cycling and rugby, Deborah Lovely is used to being a winner.
However, she will this weekend return to where it all started - the athletics field.
Lovely, 23, is competing in the Queensland athletics titles tomorrow and Sunday for the first time in five years.
Although she's been doing some club events and representing Griffith University at last year's Australian University
Games, her main focus in recent years has been on other sports.
She won a swag of international weightlifting medals - including gold at last year's Commonwealth Games - after
impressing in state and national track cycling during 2005.
Last year, she was identified as a national rugby talent for a possible future Wallaroo tour of New Zealand.
But it was winning a bronze medal in discus at the 1999 World Youth Games in Poland that propelled Lovely's career
to new heights.
This weekend, the Ipswich and District Athletic Club competitor will line up in hammer, discus and shotput events at
QEII.
"My strength is getting right up there," the Riverview all-rounder said, confident of getting among the medals.
"My weights have only just started to really come back up again. I did a 20kg improvement in my squats yesterday and
went pretty close to where I've been when I've been my strongest.
"Definitely my strength from the weights and running around being my psycho self doing everything has really helped
(returning to athletics)."
Through recent club competitions, the former national athletics champion has achieved distances good enough to qualify
for next month's nationals.
Witha body type more suited to hammer rather than discus or shotput, she has one eye on the state record of 57m.
"If I can really pull one out - either here or at nationals, I should go close to that,: Lovely said.
"I'm hopeful of picking up a couple of medals."
Helping her refocus on athletics has been younger sister Rebekah and another rising thrower Andrew Welesh. Lovely
has been coaching the pair while getting herself back into competitive athletics form.
Rebekah (under 18 and open hammer, shot and discus) and Andrew (open discus) are both competing this weekend.
However, she will this weekend return to where it all started - the athletics field.
Lovely, 23, is competing in the Queensland athletics titles tomorrow and Sunday for the first time in five years.
Although she's been doing some club events and representing Griffith University at last year's Australian University
Games, her main focus in recent years has been on other sports.
She won a swag of international weightlifting medals - including gold at last year's Commonwealth Games - after
impressing in state and national track cycling during 2005.
Last year, she was identified as a national rugby talent for a possible future Wallaroo tour of New Zealand.
But it was winning a bronze medal in discus at the 1999 World Youth Games in Poland that propelled Lovely's career
to new heights.
This weekend, the Ipswich and District Athletic Club competitor will line up in hammer, discus and shotput events at
QEII.
"My strength is getting right up there," the Riverview all-rounder said, confident of getting among the medals.
"My weights have only just started to really come back up again. I did a 20kg improvement in my squats yesterday and
went pretty close to where I've been when I've been my strongest.
"Definitely my strength from the weights and running around being my psycho self doing everything has really helped
(returning to athletics)."
Through recent club competitions, the former national athletics champion has achieved distances good enough to qualify
for next month's nationals.
Witha body type more suited to hammer rather than discus or shotput, she has one eye on the state record of 57m.
"If I can really pull one out - either here or at nationals, I should go close to that,: Lovely said.
"I'm hopeful of picking up a couple of medals."
Helping her refocus on athletics has been younger sister Rebekah and another rising thrower Andrew Welesh. Lovely
has been coaching the pair while getting herself back into competitive athletics form.
Rebekah (under 18 and open hammer, shot and discus) and Andrew (open discus) are both competing this weekend.
23 February 2007
Queensland Times