BOYD Alana < Back  
Sport Athletics
CGA Australia   
Gender Women
Born 10 May 1984 in Melbourne, AUS
Height1.71 m
Weight 59 kg
Human Interest
Further Personal Information
Residence Sunshine, VIC, AUS
Sport Specific Information
Club / Team Maroochy Athletics Club: Australia
Further Personal Information
Higher education Business Management - University of Queensland: Brisbane, QLD, AUS
General Interest
Injuries She missed the 2016 World Indoor Championships in Portland, OR, United States of America after straining the anterior talofibular ligament in her ankle in March. (heraldsun.com.au, 18 Jan 2016)

Injuries to her knee and Achilles tendon forced her to withdraw from the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Russian Federation. (sunshinecoastdaily.com.au, 25 Jul 2013)

In 2010, ganglion cysts in her knees almost forced her to quit the sport and concentrate on a career in human resources. (heraldsun.com.au, 04 Mar 2012)

She has suffered from persistent shoulder injuries. (insidesport.com.au, 08 Jul 2013)
Famous relatives Her parents Denise and Ray both represented Australia in athletics at two Olympic Games. Her mother ran in the 200m final at both the 1976 and 1980 Games, while her father competed in the pole vault at the 1972 and 1976 Games. Her brother Matthew and sister Jacinta have also competed for Australia in athletics. (rio2016.olympics.com.au, 05 Mar 2016)
Sport Specific Information
Why this sport? She initially did hurdles, but switched to pole vault because she felt she would have a better chance of success. "You have to have that pure speed to be world-class in the hurdles, and I didn't have it. I just liked pole vaulting from the start."
Name of coach Ray Boyd [father], AUS, from 2013; Craig Hilliard [national]
Training Regime She usually does two gym sessions, two track sessions and two weights sessions each week. She also has a maximum of four sessions working solely on technique.
When and where did you begin this sport? She got involved in athletics at age 10 while she was at school, and began pole vaulting when a new pit was built near her university ahead of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
International Debut
Year 2007
Competing for Australia
Tournament World Championships
Location Osaka, JPN
Further Personal Information
Occupation Athlete
General Interest
Nicknames Larn, AB, Boydie (rio2016.olympics.com.au, 05 Mar 2016)
Other information COMMISSION
She was named on the Australian Olympic Committee's [AOC] Athletes' Commission in August 2013. (couriermail.com, 30 Aug 2013)

NATIONAL FIRST
At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing she became the first Australian second generation Olympian, joining her parents as an Olympic athlete. (rio2016.olympics.com.au, 05 Mar 2016)

EARLY DAYS
Her father Ray was an Olympic-standard pole vaulter and first got her interested in the sport during one of his training sessions, before eventually becoming her coach. "Dad was out there training one day and said to my brother and sister and me, 'How would you like to have a swing on a pole?' My sister wasn't interested, but my brother and I were keen. I'd done gymnastics when I was younger so I had that body awareness and was used to being upside-down. I took to it quite well. Dad had never coached anyone before, so he was learning with us. It was like being thrown into the deep end." (athletics.com.au, 30 Apr 2011; vaultermagazine.com, 8 July 2013; runnerstribe.com, 30 Oct 2010; vaultermagazine.com, 8 July 2013)
Ambitions To win a medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (Twitter profile, 13 Feb 2016)
Further Personal Information
Languages English
General Interest
Most influential person in career Her parents. "As a kid they were just mum who ran fast, and dad who jumped high. And given that they went to Olympic and Commonwealth Games, I too had that goal as a kid because I wanted to be like them." (vaultermagazine.com, 8 Jul 2013)