Sprinting to the top
In recent years, New Zealand has seen a rise in the number of the fastest women ever to have run on home soil.
Two of these women, Rosie Elliott and Anna Percy, both 24 years old, are from Christchurch. Still early in their athletics careers, they show incredible talent and promise for continued success in women’s sprinting. Both are incredible sprinters in their own right, and members of the 2022 NZ Women’s 4 x 100m relay team. They hold a current New Zealand record, broken in 2020 after standing unchallenged for 20 years. As a relay team, they hope to qualify for the World Championships and World Relays in 2023.
Having been in the athletics world since she was young, Rosie went ‘all in’ to the sport at the age of 21, after feeling she had only scratched the surface of her potential as a teen.
“I started athletics in the junior age groups when I was 12, and competed in all events. I continued athletics into the senior age groups, focusing on the sprints and jumps, and at 16 I represented New Zealand for the first time at the Oceania Games. While Oceania is a perfect opportunity for developing younger athletes, I very quickly felt that the next progression in international competition was unobtainable and left the sport. When I came back to athletics at 21, I trained intending to be a heptathlete before a breakthrough in the sprints caused me to consider them as a viable specialist event.” Now with a strong trail of success, including placing in all three sprints at the most recent national championships, Rosie looks ahead to what representing her country would mean.
“There is the obvious pride of getting to compete internationally at a major event, knowing all your friends and family are supporting you. On top of that, it would prove to myself that I deserve to be prioritising running, rather than feeling I am delaying other important things for an unrealistic dream.” Rosie’s talent is clear to see, but it’s not without incredible determination and the right attitude that has got her this far. “It’s impossible to be motivated for every training session. I get through these days by knowing that the athletes who succeed are the ones who have the discipline to do the training in the absence of motivation.”
Growing up in Christchurch, Anna has an incredible level of discipline and desire to pursue excellence in all areas of her life. Outside of athletics, she is involved with operations engineering, having graduated from the University of Canterbury with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.
Anna wasn’t always competing in athletics, in fact when she was younger, she was a trampolinist, quite seriously until the age of 12. After taking up athletics purely for the fun of it, it became clear she had found her wheelhouse. Thoughts of taking the sport to a higher level were sparked in 2017, “when I first raced the European circuit and ran the NZ junior record in the 400m hurdles. I had some great results in Europe and being so young as well, I definitely thought that this was something I could do professionally in the future.” Since then, she has seen incredible success and holds the third-fastest 100m sprint time ever as a New Zealander.
For Anna, the opportunity to represent New Zealand at an elite level would be a dream come true. “To achieve something that I’ve dreamed about since I was 10 would be absolutely incredible. Track and field is such a difficult sport to get to the top of and competing at the World Champs to me would be a reward for all the hard work that has been put into getting me to the elite level.”
Anna is all about having the right mindset when motivation seems hard to find. “I don’t necessarily find motivation on tough days, but I have a commitment with myself that while I’m a fully committed athlete, I show up every day with the mindset to get better and grow as an athlete and person.”
Both Rosie and Anna train with Christchurch-based, coach Andrew Maclennan. He sees a lot more in both athletes than their talent alone. “Talent only gets you in the door. Work ethic takes you from the door to the podium and I see a determination in these athletes to eke out every single drop that shows what they are truly worth.” He loves helping to bring out what’s hidden in them. “For some athletes, their talent is obvious, so you’re literally just keeping them on task to let that talent come out at some stage. However, some of them have no idea it’s in them, so to see them excel after years of committed work when they never thought they could achieve on the world stage is incredibly satisfying and rewarding.”
Sponsorship opportunity
With limited racing opportunities and international competitors, sponsorship for Rosie or Anna would give them the ability to continue their season internationally. Hopes of qualifying for the World Championships and beyond means competing in several races before then, all of which don’t come cheap. For any interest in supporting either of these incredible athletes, contact sponsorship manager Helena Dinnissen on 027 416 5474, or email helenadinnissen@gmail.com
