Meet Camryn: From UniSQ to Paris

Dreams are coming true for University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) student Camryn Newton-Smith as she prepares to wear the green and gold for Australia, competing in the heptathlon at the 2024 Paris Games.

Newton-Smith is studying a Master of Education (Primary) at UniSQ, balancing her time between competing and the classroom. We chatted with her to learn more about her journey.

What does it mean to be selected to compete in Paris?

It’s a dream come true! It’s something I’ve been working towards since I started the sport. I got a phone call with the news while I was on my way to the track for training. I parked my car and just cried. I then texted my family; I wanted them to be the first to know.

How does the qualifying process work?

The qualifying process is quite complex with a lot of different points and statistics that go into it. But essentially, the top 24 in the world rankings qualify in the heptathlon. The combined events are the smallest event field, which makes qualifying even harder. In the back of my mind, I felt like I’d done enough, but I was never confident I’d made it until I was told and it was confirmed I'd been selected.

Was there a moment you felt like you belonged on the team?

After winning Nationals this year, I felt like the Paris Games was becoming more and more of a possibility and I definitely had a 'why not me' moment. I knew that I’d worked so hard to get to this point and that I had one more competition to be able to qualify and I'd have to put everything I had into it.

What are your goals at the Paris Games?

My goals are to take everything in and learn as much as I can from the experience. I'm going to be competing against athletes I've idolised for a really long time, so just being there and competing against such an elite field is a huge goal of mine already ticked off. When I get there, I just want to compete as well as I can and try to get a personal best in some events.

What makes the heptathlon challenging and what do you love most about it?

It's so challenging because there's so many completely different events we’re trying to conquer. We're trying to be the master of many events in a sport where people only ever typically master one. It's extremely hard to train as it's gruelling on the body and the mind. If an event goes wrong in competition, you need to be able to pick yourself back up and move on to the next one. It can be tough. What I love most is that there's so much to do and focus on. Personally, if I was only ever training for one event, I'd probably get bored. Also, I get to compete seven times in seven different events. What's not to love! My favourite event changes all the time depending on what is going well at training, which is the beauty of doing the heptathlon. My favourite at the moment is hurdles, but javelin is also very sentimental for me as it gives me a connection to my grandfather (Colin Smith), who won javelin at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and picked up a silver at the 1952 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

Why did you choose to study Education at UniSQ?

I chose a Master of Education (Primary) because I already have a Bachelor of Psychology and wanted to move into the education field and become a teacher. I chose UniSQ because they have a great support system for their students and offered the degree I wanted online, allowing me to fit study around my training and competition schedules.

What would your advice be to rising athletes thinking of pursuing study while continuing their training/competing?

Just do it. As athletes, we know how to work hard and we know how to manage our time. It might be a bit daunting at first, but it can be done!