The New Zealand pole-vaulter is now just weeks away from competing in another Olympic Games, eight years after winning a maiden bronze at Rio 2016.
After a whirlwind start to her sporting career – in which she also claimed silver at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games – a difficult period with injury was soon to follow.
By McCartney’s own admittance, it hasn’t been the easiest journey. Alongside the medal moments and podium place, she also had to make the heartbreaking decision to withdraw from the Tokyo games in 2021.
“I was quite young when I went to both Rio and the Commonwealth Games,” she told Loughborough Sport.
“To be hitting podiums at a young age in the sport was so exciting. I didn’t know that I would then spend a few years with an injury. At the time it was just an amazing feeling that I get to do this as my job – representing my country and winning medals. It’s a very special and privileged thing to do.
“After about 2018, I started to struggle with Achilles tendinitis and hamstring tendonitis…unfortunately that centred around the Tokyo Olympics. I tried incredibly hard to get to the games, but I was just not healthy enough.
“I was not in a position to be able to compete, which was pretty distressing at the time. I had these plans and I saw myself as an athlete going to the Olympics. When your identity is taken away, it's quite a hard thing.”
But now, after a period of being injury free, coupled with a move to Loughborough University to train under new coach Scott Simpson, McCartney is ready to once again show the world what she can do.
“I'm very pleased to say the last couple of years have been fantastic. We've finally clicked on to what was going wrong and how we can improve things. Although I still occasionally can have troubles with my Achilles it’s incredibly manageable which means that I can compete, I can train.
“In a global sense, I want to do myself justice…go out there and jump well, feel like I gave it everything. If I check all of those boxes, you can't be disappointed because you gave your best effort.”
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