Australian high jumper Nicola McDermott went from competing on a grass track in New South Wales to an air-conditioned stadium in Qatar and wants to inspire young athletes to pursue their goals no matter their situation.
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The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist was in Launceston on Thursday, with Scripture Union Tasmania, and treated a year 7 Kings Meadows High School class to a private session on technique.
She said positive reinforcement was key when she began Little Athletics at eight-years-old and "fell in love" with high jump.
"I was so unco-ordinated when I was there age and I didn't show much talent but I just had teachers and coaches encouraging me," she said.
"I was telling the kids in the class today, if you have a passion for anything and you really believe that you can get to a goal...it's believing that everything your doing is enough.
"At the end of the day it's not your institute, it's not your coach that gets you there, it's actually what you are."
She jumped 1.96 metres in June, a personal best and Olympic qualifier, to equal the all-time third best height ever jumped by an Australian female.
The 22-year-old stands by her message that it's all about what you make of your situation as she said to get into the Commonwealth Games last year was a "miracle" in itself.
She had no institute affiliations or sponsors, only the support of Sydney University, her coach Matt Hornsell and her self belief, before she took home a bronze medal.
"My PB at the Commonwealth Games was 1.91 and I did that, so 1.96 would have gotten me a gold medal last year," she said.
"It's been a big improvement this year, five centimetres doesn't sound like a lot but when you get to the higher end another five centimetres could jump to 2.01 and that's Olympic podium," she said.
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She has been with her coach Mr Hornsell since she was 11-years-old and said despite having access to NSW Institute of Sport facilities now, she still used the gym in his garage more often than not.
"As an eight-year-old I said i'm going to jump two metres, I didn't even know what that meant or what it meant to be an international high jumper," she said.
"We've never had a woman ever jump two metres in Australia, and so that's always been a goal of mine.
"To consistently jump two metres, that's the legend status and since I'm only 22 I know I've got another 10 years in the sport, so i'm not going to be putting that pressure on myself now."
Although the 2019 National Champion has to remain in the top three in Australia to qualify for Tokyo 2020 she said she was "confident" she would be their next July.
Her time is Launceston is part of a rest week before she is back training six days a week, with multiple sessions per day to go after an Olympic medal and further international accolades.