60 Seconds with Sarah Hammond
Olympic athlete, Premiership winning AFL player and Adventurethon athlete…these are just some of the activities that Sarah Hammond is known for. Check out her story below…
As event organizers we don’t always know people’s stories when they come to our events. So when we get the chance to find out a bit more about each one of you it is really rewarding. Our competitors come from all walks of life, and Sarah Hammond is no exception. Sarah is competing in the mountain bike event – Single Track Attack – April 14th (as part of the Adventurethon Demolish Anglesea event).
Sarah says, “I had to have a full knee reconstruction last year, after rupturing my ACL playing AFL. Unfortunately, my running has not got back on track as quickly as I hoped, so I can only do the mountain bike section this year, but hopefully I’ll be back next year!”
We reckon she will be too!!
Sarah is very active, playing AFL with the Darebin Falcons, where they won 11 premierships (only retiring last year with knee reconstruction), the previous Adventurethon Anglesea events and the Sydney Olympics with European Handball.
Sarah has experienced something pretty special – competing in the Sydney Olympics in 2000, playing European Handball (where they finished 8th – nice work!!!!). Being part of the Olympics must have been a pretty amazing experience, so we asked her to share a stand out moment.
“The stand out moment was the opening ceremony in its entirety, but an extra special moment during the ceremony would have to be when the Australian team were waiting in the race to walk out into the stadium. The sound was deafening. The excitement amongst the athletes and the feeling will be something I’ll never experience again. The fact that it was a home crowd in Sydney, made it an extra special moment.”
What piece of advice would you give to someone getting into any sport, especially with a view to competing at top level of their field? Or even anyone really just wanting to be competitive in their event?
“It sounds like a cliche, but hard work and dedication does pay off. You’ve also got to enjoy what you’re doing, I’ve been through many times when I haven’t enjoyed it as much as I could and my training and performance suffered. You need to be adaptive during these times and try and switch things up to bring. Add some enjoyment.”
We love hearing your stories and we can’t wait to see you all in Anglesea on April 14 & 15.
If you haven’t registered yet, regos will be open for a few more days, so QUICK, get on it!