THE Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 may not be quite as far-fetched for Ella Heeney as she thought a month ago.
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Heeney was simply happy to be a competitor at the World School’s Cross Country Championships on March 27 in her first-ever trip to France.
In a remarkable turn of events, the Mackillop College student is now a world champion after hanging on in her first overseas adventure.
She was originally the first reserve after the national titles in Hobart, before she received the late call-up into the same event that has unearthed current Commonwealth or Olympic Games athletes.
“I’ve only been doing proper cross country training for four or five months so this is a massive surprise to me,” Heeney said.
“A fair few people that have been on that same team previously are racing at the Commonwealth Games right now.”
She ran the race of her life, edging out Moroccan counterpart Meryeme Azrour by one second to be crowned best in the world in that division.
Everything fell into place with the year-12 student admitting she stuck to her race plan perfectly.
“Going into the race, my race plan was just to beat everyone I could no matter what age, race, anything,” she said.
“I knew everyone was going to go hard at the beginning, but I had to not get caught up in it all and just pace myself.
“I didn’t want to be too far back, but not be right at the front either and then build my way into it.”
After many of the competitors “went out too hard” early, Heeney benefited from them “hitting the wall” later one.
“By the end of the second lap when I hit the front, I thought why not give it a go and see what I can do,” she said.
“It’s really hard not to go out quickly, but it’s a bit of race practice really and the more you do, the better you get at it.”
By the end of the second lap when I hit the front, I thought why not give it a go and see what I can do.
- Ella Heeney
Heeney flew into Australia on Tuesday night, had Wednesday off before she sat an assessment task at school on Thursday morning.
It was a whirlwind fortnight for the 18-year-old.
“Overseas there wasn’t much time to worry about that at all, but it’s a once in a lifetime experience so you’ve got to take it,” she said.
After her success in Paris, did the teenager now have a stronger belief that she could repeat the dose on an even bigger stage in the same city in years to come?
“I want to try and make it in running, that’d be awesome,” she said.
“Ultimately (the Commonwealth or Olympic Games are) where I would like to end up, whether that is in four years I don’t know.”
