National champ Taryn not happy

Taryn Gollshewsky returned home from Sydney’s Australian Athletics Titles with gold and bronze in discus.

Not many people would return from an Australian championship unhappy with gold and bronze medals.

But that is the calibre of athlete Taryn Gollshewsky.

In the space of a few hours Gollshewsky’s two efforts got her gold in the under-18s and bronze in the under-20s.

Both throws — around the 47m mark — were well below her recent best and did not count as qualifiers for July’s World Junior Athletics Championships.

It means her spot on the squad is still up in the air, despite officials hinting she had made the cut.

“I don’t want to take their word for it, I want to see that letter in the mail, so hopefully it’s there in the next week,” she said.

“I was definitely aiming to do better in Sydney, secure that spot — it’s disappointing,” said Gollshewsky.

To make things confusing, she actually finished fourth in the under-18s, but because the three in front were from New Zealand, Gollshewsky was propelled to top spot.

“Those girls are giants, just massive,” she said.

“All they had was strength, they just hurled it — eventually I’ll get stronger too and my technique will mean I can throw it further than them.”

In previous events Gollshewsky has suffered through some horrid preparation.

Not having a warm up throw at last year’s nationals and almost missing the most recent event in Sydney, it’s as if she has been cursed.

But preparation was perfect this time around; Gollshewsky said she simply was not mentally ready.

“I think it was hard to get up twice in one day. Usually you only need to peak once each, plus I had the world juniors on my mind,” she said.

If she does get the nod from Athletics Australia her training routine is set for drastic changes.

A schedule of weights, gymnastics, core-strength exercises and even more weights lies ahead.

“I am throwing as far as I can at the moment, so it’s time to get stronger,” she said.

Gollshewsky currently bench presses around 30kg, an admirable effort for a high school girl, but it is a figure she is intent on improving.

“Yep, that’s not too good, and being able to bench more will automatically help me throw further,” she said.

Her coach — former Australian decathlete Les Kuorikoski — has been with the talented Elliott Heads girl the whole way.

“He has just been great, making sure I get a fair pathway to worlds and also making sure I’m doing the right things to prepare,” Gollshewsky said.