Umina PCYC boxer Anja Stridsman has won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, just five months after surgery to repair a ligament in her knee.
Anja won the final in the 60kg division against English boxer Paige Murney, with a 5-0 decision in Anja’s favour. She reached the final after wins against India’s Sarita Devi in the quarter-final on April 11 and against New Zealand’s Troy Garton in the semi-final on April 13.
Anja had qualified for the Australian team after winning three fights with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, before paying $13,500 to have the ligament replaced with a donated Achilles tendon. In a “belated announcement” on her Facebook page on April 18, Anja expressed her joy over the win. “Through a torn ACL and an Achilles’ tendon of a cadaver, I am still amazed that I actually did it.
“There are many people that I would like to thank, but one above all, to whom this gold belongs just as much as myself, is my friend and coach Joel Keegan. “He is the one person that was there with me through everything. “We were two equally crazy people to believe that we could pull this off: Firstly, to qualify without an ACL and then not just compete but win the Commonwealth Games only five months after surgery,” she wrote. “Joel saw what type of athlete I was, and he committed to getting me there. “He sacrificed, adapted, drove countless kilometres, made himself always available. “I could not have won this gold without him and I would not be half the boxer that I am today without him.
“He may not be the coach for everyone and as much as we might fight, as stubborn people do, and as much as this journey has been tumultuous, he is the only coach for me. “The moment I will forever treasure is the one where I could jump up in the stands and hug the man who made it possible for me to have gotten there in the first place. “The man knew just what I had gone through to get here.”
SOURCE: Website, 18 Apr 2018 Anja Stridsman Facebook page Games Team Athlete BioReporter: Dilon Luke