It was my school sports day and I was dressed like a fairy in a red tutu and bare feet. I knew I had a good arm and really wanted to do my best in the throwing events. After my second shot put throw this man in a suit approached me. That guy was Steve. He asked me to join the local athletics club. I asked him how much it would cost, because we couldn’t have afforded fees, but he said there would be no cost. He became my second dad. I would finish school, go to club and train 2.5 hours every opportunity I got. Steve tried to get me to go to athletic meets, but I would always chicken out. I told him lies about why I couldn’t make them. At that time my family was going through a very difficult time and I wanted to do something to make everyone proud, so when the next competition included an all expenses paid trip to Dunedin, I most definitely went!. It was the New Zealand National Athletic Championship, one of my first competitions ever. I won gold in the senior women’s competition. I was so proud. But the best moment was when I looked straight into the crowd and saw both my Mum and my Dad there, they had come down to support me. As I stood at the top of the podium, I silently cried, not because of my win but because of my parents proud faces looking back at me.
