Geelong triple jumper Tiana Boras overcomes injury battles to compete at 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships

Contesting the women’s final on August 31, Boras landed 12.54m on her first attempt but failed to go on with her next two.

The 19-year-old, who had an injury plagued lead-in to the championships, reached the final in nail-biting fashion, landing a clutch third-round jump of 12.84m to qualify by two centimeters.

Earlier

Geelong triple jumper Tiana Boras isn’t putting expectations on next week’s World Athletics U20 Championships after an injury-interrupted lead-up.

But if the reigning U20 world bronze medallist knows anything — it’s that having little expectations can be a good thing.

In 2022, and then-17-years-old, Boras entered the World Athletics U20 Championships in Colombia ranked 12th in the world before going on to claim bronze with an Australian under-18 record jump of 13.30m as a bottom-ager.

Now, ready for her second championships in Peru, Boras, 19, said her experience competing two years ago gave her the knowledge of how to navigate the tournament.

But when it comes to her competition, she said the biggest lesson she took away from 2022 was making a final wasn’t always guaranteed.

“It was so surreal medalling,” Boras said.

“I was not expecting it whatsoever. I was ranked 12th before the competition so I was just trying to aim to make the finals and once I made the finals I was just happy to be there.

“Going into this time around, I’m not expecting a medal whatsoever, I’m just going in there to get another PB and do the best I can do and not focus on anyone else and whatever happens, happens.”

But while the Deakin University student has grown as an athlete since her debut championships, it hasn’t been plain sailing back to the world stage.

“A lot of aspects like my diet, sleep have improved but I’ve been injured a lot on-and-off the last few years,” she said.

“Last season I was injured so it’s been a struggle to get back.”

A fractured toe straight after the 2022 world saw Boras undergo a long rehab, while she was still working through tendinitis a month out from this year’s competition.

Boras, who trains three times a week at Athletics Essendon under coach and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Alwyn Jones and once a week at the Victorian Institute of Sport, said she had tried to “trust the process” in her return from injury.

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“And doing as much as I can without further injuring it,” she added.

First falling in love with triple jump as an eight-year-old at little athletics, Boras said to wear the green and gold was “really special” as she aimed to represent both Australia and her family with pride next week.

• The U20 championships run from Tuesday, August 27 until Saturday, August 31. Women’s triple jump qualification is scheduled for Thursday at 2.50am local time, with the final held on Sunday at 8.19am.

Originally published as Geelong triple jumper Tiana Boras overcomes injury battles to compete at 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships