Sponsored TPM Athlete Lauren Nugent
We are extremely proud of Lauren’s achievements at State championships in Cairns recently, where she took bronze in both the 800m and 1500m. Lauren has been working closely with Physiotherapist Connor and attends weekly strength and conditioning training at TPM performance.
Did you catch the latest article from Lauren within the Townsville Bulletin?
“MAGNETIC Island middle distance runner Lauren Nugent wasn’t going to let even a shattered tibia keep her off the track for too long.
Told she would never run again after breaking her leg 12 months ago, Lauren took a huge stride in her recovery at the recent Queensland schools championships in Cairns.
The determined young athlete claimed bronze in both the 800m and 1500m events for her age group with her time in the 800m less than a second off her personal best.
Lauren is also a keen surf lifesaver and has been crowned a national junior beach sprint champion, but she admitted the biggest battle with her injury comeback had been mentally preparing herself to run again.
The 16-year-old suffered the serious injury after jumping out of a boat into unexpectedly shallow water off Horseshoe Bay and was initially told that she would have to give up competitive running.
A second opinion from a surgeon in Brisbane was more positive as Lauren had four pins inserted into her ankle before getting back on the track for the national titles in Sydney in April.
“It was hard to hear (that she wouldn’t run again), but I just knew that I’d be able to do it after hearing what the (second) surgeon said,” Lauren said.
“At the start it was just doing slow walks and then building up into it.
“It felt a bit weird, but I just kept going. It took a couple of months for it to feel normal again.
“I started running about two months after coming out of my moon boot, but when I started running I was favouring one side so I did a bit of back damage, but now everything’s all good.”
Lauren will contest her last event of the season this weekend at the 1500m Classic in Brisbane and she was determined to keep her momentum going into next year and another shot at nationals.
“At the start of the year after finishing nationals I didn’t think I was ever going to be as good as what I was, but after this meet (the state titles) it’s definitely a confidence booster,” she said.”
