Olympic hammer thrower Lauren Bruce is out to claim a maiden national title that has long eluded her, as the New Zealand record holder looks to kickstart her season, with eyes on the world championships and Commonwealth Games.
The 24-year-old is openly frustrated with her Tokyo Olympic campaign, where she finished 23rd with a throw of 67.71m, well off her personal best of 74.61m, which would have landed her a silver medal, but Bruce is philosophical upon reflection.
"Tokyo is one day on the calendar," she tells Newshub. "We had to look at the rest of the season, and the first comp I went over and did, I threw a New Zealand record, the Oceania record and I think a metre-and-a-bit PB, and backed that up with a number of 72 (meter) throws.
“To take one day and be like 'we didn’t do what we needed to do', is probably not fair to the rest of the campaign and the work we've done, but it was probably the worst day and the worst day to have it.”
After leaving COVID-19 quarantine, Bruce was ready to rip straight back into training as soon as she could, but had to ask some tough questions of herself first.
"It was something I had to consider - am I wanting to get back into it to make up for how Tokyo went," she says. "Obviously, it was incredibly disappointing, but I thought about it and I was like, 'No, I love doing this stuff and even the gym side of things... moving my body is tied into my identity".
Giving herself a break or a pat on the back doesn’t come naturally for the NZ recordholder, who came from a gymnastics background and competes at a high level in several sports.
Celebration and acknowledgment of her achievements has often come second.
"Probably most of my life," Bruce laughs. "I think that's something I'm having to learn.
"I grew up doing gymnastics, and it was very much onto the next thing and you’re never getting rewarded for anything. It's always deductions and things getting taken away.
"I guess I carried that through to athletics. The past couple of years, I started to do it - you have to celebrate."
The Timaru local's keen to celebrate the title that she hasn't bagged yet - a national victory at Hastings this weekend.
Bruce hopes it's 'eighth time's a charm' - after picking up silver an agonising seven times since 2014, behind rivals Nicole Bradley and 2018 Commonwealth Games champion Julia Ratcliffe.
"I wasn't really in the mix. I was always, 'I might scrape second, probably get third'. Last year at nationals was the first time I was able to go out and contend for the title, then Julia came out and broke the New Zealand record that I'd taken from her, which was awesome to see and great for the sport, but a little bit sucky."
Even though Ratcliffe won’t compete on Saturday, Bruce is wary of the stiff competition in the women’s hammer, with world class rivals domestically setting her up for success overseas.
"Last year was so good. Obviously, we couldn’t go overseas or even get people in to compete against, but knowing, every time I went into competition, that Julia was there and I would have to bring my A game to win was definitely a huge part of the success of the domestic season."
Bruce has been building for this weekend, training more instead of competing, as she prepares for her offshore campaign.
"Come Commonwealth Games and world champs, we'll definitely be ready to go, especially with a few comps under my belt against the girls who are throwing really far, that 76-78m."
