YUKICH'S HERCULEAN FINAL FLURRY OF RACES ON PATH TO PARIS

Alanah Yukich is set to make her Olympic debut in Paris after an impressive month of hunting hurdles to secure her spot on the Australian Olympic Team. 

With a story quite like no other, Yukich’s rise from a Kingsway Kid to an Olympic Hurdler is one to be celebrated.

Yukich first took her Athletics to the next level when she moved to America as a student-athlete at the University of Texas at San Antonio. After graduating from college in 2023, Yukich met her new coach, Rose Monday and stayed in Texas where she has spent the last 12 months training with hope for a spot in the Paris Olympic Games.

“The coach I am with now Rose Monday, we’re so connected. She knows me so well already from just how short we've been together,” Yukich said.

Since joining forces with Monday, Yukich has improved her personal best in the 400m hurdles from 57.00 seconds to 55.15 and most recently ran an astonishing three, 55-second races in three days in three different countries while hunting down world ranking points in one last fight for a spot on the Australian Olympic team.

“To think 55 is a norm is crazy to me. It was 57 and now it's 55 which is normal, so it's there.”

Yukich initially had sights set on the 4 x 400m Australian Relay team, but when things didn’t quite go as planned for the quartet at the World Relay Championships in the Bahamas, Yukich quickly shifted her focus to the 400m Hurdles.

“I finished the Bahamas and was on the wait list for Madrid, so I decided to go to Madrid straight after the Bahamas and just be there because you never know,” said Yukich.

“I got the call the day before and was in, so that was perfect and then I had to mentally prepare myself for a quick turnaround because Madrid was at 8 pm and I knew I had Geneva which was at 1 pm the next day.”

In Madrid, Yukich impressed the state when she ran 55.15, setting a new personal best and Western Australian State Record.

Not stopping there, Yukich boarded a plane at 5 am the next morning en route to Geneva, where she clocked another impressive 55.94 off little sleep and in tough conditions.

“I rang my coach straight away after that race and I said, hey still a 55 I am happy with that, I was proud of myself and that’s where I want to be, but my head was not in that race.”

With more fight in the tank and the Olympics in arms reach, Yukich’s team scrambled to find a spot for her in Poland.

“I rang my coach and about 10 minutes later she said she had a spot in lane one, and I said I don’t care I’ll take it.”

“I knew in that race if I got top three, I was safe in the quota and I knew that before going into it, so I just needed to get in.”

“My mindset shifted for Poland, it was just like have fun, run and whatever happens happens. I listened to my body and mentally I was thinking if I didn’t think I was going to win it before I got there then I had already lost the race so that was the mindset I had the whole time.”

With a strong mindset and tenacity to secure a spot within quota, Yukich ran another 55.40 in the Polish City of Poznan and launched herself safely inside the ranking points.

Fresh off the back of a slew of outstanding performances, Yukich is finally ready to step onto the start line for the first time as an Olympian at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

“I knew from my training, I knew where my time trials were at, and I knew that I was going to be here it was just getting it down and pulling it all together.

“I am so excited to go to the Olympics because I have no expectations whatsoever, being there is just enough but I know in myself I have so much more to give.”

Alanah Yukich will line up for Round One of the 400m Hurdles on Sunday the 4^th of August at 6:35 pm WST.

To follow Alanah’s Olympic journey and stay up to date with daily Olympic Schedules, results and updates follow the Athletics West Facebook and Instagram Pages.

To watch all the athletes in action at the Paris Olympics, head to 9NOW.

For more information on how you can get involved in athletics, contact Athletics West on 08 6272 0480 or email us at admin@athleticswest.com.au.

By Imogen McDonald, Athletics West

Posted 22 July 2024