Holly is fully focussed in competition mode. by photo supplied

International success for top speed skater

Holly Ward’s recent nomination for Junior Sportswoman of the Year at the ASB Nelson 2019 Sports Awards was the cherry on top of some very thick icing for the super-talented year 10 inline speed skater this year.

Holly has had an action-packed year of competitions that began in January with nationals in Palmerston North, where she came away with a handful of medals, including a gold for the time trial. This was followed by three bronzes at the Banked Track Nationals in Timaru.  

The busy skater then crossed the ditch to compete in the Oceania Championships in Brisbane in March. There she placed 3rd in the 1km race and 3rd in the full 42km marathon road race. She was also a member of the top-placed relay team and gained placings within the top five for a number of other races.

As if this wasn’t enough, she went on to repeat her 3rd place marathon performance at nationals in Blenheim and then traveled to Indonesia in August to compete in two different competitions against skaters from Indonesia, India and Hong Kong. Her performances there were equally as stellar, with a number of 4th and 5th placings, a 3rd in the marathon and a 1st for the New Zealand junior relay team.

Holly said the heat and humidity made competing in Indonesia harder than usual, especially in the longer races which she favours. “The shorter ones, if you muck up at the start or something, you’ve mucked up, but the longer ones, if you muck up, you’ve got time to get back to a good spot,” she said.

Holly’s fastest time for the full marathon is 1 hour 10 minutes. Though she says mental strategies are important, particularly in the longer races, Holly is characteristically modest about her talents in this area. “You want to have strategies but I normally just go out there and wing it because I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said. Given her successes, this approach seems to be working a treat.

Next year Holly’s hoping to make it to Junior Worlds in Colombia. That means her life of constant training and fundraising looks set to continue. Congratulations on an outstanding year of skating Holly and all the best for 2020!