READ MORE:<\/strong> Ex-NRL coach opens up on 'harrowing' incident\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Not what you do': Cripps grilled over 'odd' act<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Ratcliffe's colossal throw punched her ticket to the NCAA finals, to be held in Austin in June.<\/p>\n The rising star graduated with a neuroscience degree from Harvard University on the same day that she broke the 20-year-old Australian record, and while her hammer throw competition meant she couldn't attend the ceremony, she says the coinciding achievements made for a "really, really special day".<\/p>\n In 2020 and 2021, having returned from college as COVID-19 gripped the world, Ratcliffe spent countless hours wakeboarding at Victoria's Goughs Bay or snowboarding at Mount Buller nearby.<\/p>\n And as was the case while tearing along behind a boat or taking on the Victorian high country, adrenaline was coursing through her veins on last week's record-breaking day in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n "The nature of the competition really helped me," Ratcliffe told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n "I had a lot of adrenaline on that day. I was a little bit nervous\ufeff … It's quite a stressful competition. You're trying to make sure you get through to that next level.<\/p>\n "I had my game plan, I knew what I wanted to do going in; I just wanted to get that first throw in, and at a level that I would be pretty safe going through to nationals so then with the next two throws I could focus on getting a big one out there, and that's what I did. The plan worked.<\/p>\n "Definitely the adrenaline rush from having other high-level athletes to compete against really helped me."<\/p>\n While Ratcliffe has graduated from Harvard University, she'll continue to be based in the United States after signing with \ufeffUniversity of Georgia Track and Field.<\/p>\n She's only represented Australia in senior competition at the Oceania championships of 2019 and 2022, but is burning with hunger as she eyes August's world championships, to be held in Budapest, and the 2024 Paris Olympics.\ufeff<\/p>\n "\ufeffYou're chasing that feeling where a good throw feels very rhythmic, you feel very connected to the hammer, you kind of just move in one fluid motion," Ratcliffe added.<\/p>\n "Not every throw feels like that, most throws don't, but you're chasing that feeling in a competition for it to all come together.<\/p>\n "On that throw (last week) it all came together and I knew it did when I released it. I was waiting for the hammer to land in the sector before I celebrated and as soon it did I knew it was good. I waited for that result … I heard everyone clapping and cheering, and I hadn't actually seen the mark yet, and then when I saw the mark it was just intense happiness. I ran over to my coach and celebrated my moment with my coach and my family … It was quite overwhelming, I was overwhelmed with emotions, I was very, very happy."<\/p>\n There's a delicate balance between embracing adrenaline and, in other moments, staying calm.<\/p>\n "You want to be relaxed … but then you also want to accelerate and move the hammer," Ratcliffe said.<\/p>\n "\ufeffIn between throws I'm trying to stay as relaxed as possible, save my energy, reset, and then just before the throw I try to get geed up \u2014 slap my legs, jump up a bit and just get excited for that throw … My first wind is very relaxed and then with the second one I really go into it and take off from there."<\/p>\n As for wakeboarding and snowboarding, a sense of thrill isn't the only lure for Ratcliffe.\ufeff<\/p>\n "The adrenaline rush, number one," she said.<\/p>\n "But then … it's a bit of an outlet to enjoy something that I don't have to be good at. I hold myself to a very high standard academically and athletically. To have something that is … a lot lower stakes and you can do with friends, with family … There's no pressure to be good at it. I can be absolutely terrible at it and it doesn't matter."<\/p>\n At the age of five, Ratcliffe took up Little Athletics with Doncaster Athletic Club\ufeff in Melbourne's east.<\/p>\n She was originally best at hurdles, but shot put and discus took over.<\/p>\n She picked up hammer throw as a 13-year-old and it was soon her pet event.<\/p>\n "I enjoyed the throwing events and I guess I was pretty good at them, as well," Ratcliffe said.<\/p>\n "I love that with the throwing events you get a distance and it's an objective measure of how good you are. It's not subjective. I love being able to see that very clear progression of where you stand.\ufeff You're chasing for a PB (personal best), you're chasing to get better and you know exactly when you've achieved that. So I find that really drives me, having those really clear-cut goals.<\/p>\n "\ufeffI find it more fun," she said of hammer throw.<\/p>\n "It's very technical, I love the technical aspects.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CsuBd3tuwtI\/<\/a><\/p>\n "No matter how good you get, you can always get better. You can get stronger and then that kind of changes your technique, and you have to fine-tune your technique to match your strength again. Then you get stronger again and it's the same thing. It's a constant cycle of improving and getting better."<\/p>\n By the end of 2021, Ratcliffe's personal best was 61.81 metres.<\/p>\n She improved to 64.04 metres\ufeff in 2022 and, in March this year, nailed the 70-metre mark.<\/p>\n Breaking the Australian record, which for 20 years was 71.12 metres, was a product of iron-willed training consistency.\ufeff<\/p>\n "I'm very excited to\ufeff have been able to do that," she said.<\/p>\n "That was my goal for this season. Before I started this season I wrote down a few of my goals and the biggest one was to break the Australian record.<\/p>\n "To not just break the record but to break it by so much \u2014 I'm not going to say I was shocked because I knew that it was there, but I didn't expect to throw that much further than my previous best this early in the season.<\/p>\n "So it's very exciting."<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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