She might be a two-time Commonwealth Games pole vault gold medallist but Alana Boyd concedes she has unfinished business at international level.
The 30-year-old Australian heads into this weekend's national championships in Brisbane having already achieved a qualifying height for this year's world championships in Beijing.
Boyd cleared 4.50m in Melbourne last week, meaning defending her national title on Saturday is her only priority.
A winner at the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games, Boyd says securing the qualifying height early in her campaign will actually free her to jump higher and higher throughout the year.
She also believes she could beat her three-year-old Australian record of 4.76m set in Perth in 2012.
"It is a weight off my mind and now I can go back and prepare with August in mind and Beijing as the major goal," Boyd said.
"It's definitely possible (to break the record). Everything in training's indicating that it will. I've made a few changes to the poles that I'm jumping on and I'm taking off further out. There's a lot of different technical things that we've been working on that have come together in training and not necessarily all at the same time in competition.
"The next couple of months ... it will definitely come together and, if it does, I definitely don't see why there's a reason I couldn't get up to the 70s and potentially set another Australian record."
For all Boyd's dominance at Commonwealth level, she probably hasn't done herself justice at a world championships or Olympics.
She made the final on her way to finishing 11th at the 2012 London Games but failed to qualify for the final in her two past world championship appearances and missed the 2013 worlds due to injury.
"Whilst making a final at the Olympics Games is nothing to be ashamed of, I definitely feel I could've done better in London," she said.
"If I can jump into the 70s, then you are a chance at a top six, even a medal finish.
"Obviously, this year is important leading into Rio and, if I was to make Rio, it would be my third Olympics and I feel like, if I can stay healthy and put some good training together, there's no reason why I can't jump the heights I need to really be competitive."
Boyd will be one of a field of 11 contesting the national title and she acknowledges the emergence of young gun Nina Kennedy.
The West Australian has twice bettered the qualifying mark for the worlds already and her career-best of 4.59m is the best height by an under-20 aged athlete.
"It's fantastic for Australian athletics and, in particular, pole vault," Boyd said.
"She's only 17, almost 18, and a youngster nipping at my heels. It's good to go into competitions and have someone there that is a threat."
Share
