Gold medal is slowly sinking in: Krstic
Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Right at Home Australian Jackaroo Kristina Krstic admits that her women’s pairs triumph with Ellen Ryan is still sinking in, more than a month after the historic day.
Speaking on Bowls Australia’s (BA) ‘The Right Line’ podcast, the 28-year-old confessed she is still pinching herself over the victory, and her main memory of the final bowl is Ryan screaming her name as it rocketed down the green.
“I’ve been home for just over two weeks now and it’s almost been a month after the Games so it’s slowly sinking in – I still sometimes can’t believe it happened but I’m getting there,” she said.
“First of all, I was watching it (the final bowl) closely and it all happened so fast but I thought in my head for a moment that she may have been a little bit tight but only just, she was in the area.
“But then when she called my name I knew she had it because she would never yell out, everyone knows what Ellen is like, she is as cool as a cucumber.
“She doesn’t make much noise but as soon as she said my name I was like ‘she’s got it!’
“All the excitement all happened at once but it was a very special moment.”
The Australian duo defeated Sophie Tolchard and Amy Pharoah of England in an extra-end thriller, which required unrelenting mental fortitude from all four combatants.
Krstic is aware of how nervous she can be on the green, but due to the fact that a medal was already guaranteed, it gave her a different outlook on the contest.
“People know what I’m normally like, I get really nervous and work myself up and sometimes that can affect my bowls,” she said.
“But as soon as we made the final, as much as we wanted to win gold, I thought that we had made the final and it was already a dream come true to be standing on the podium with my best friend and getting a medal either way.
“It had a different kind of feeling, it wasn’t nerves that I normally feel or that I felt in the quarter or the semi, I had this grit feeling in me and I just wanted it so badly.
“I thought we’ve finally got here so let’s do everything we can, and even when we were down, there was no point where I thought that we couldn’t win.”
Following a difficult fours campaign where the Western Australian, along with Lynsey Clarke, Rebecca Van Asch and Natasha Van Eldik fell agonisingly short of a quarter-finals birth, Krstic was able to regroup and focus on the task at hand.
The Manning Memorial Club product is always one to openly discuss activity on the green as it assists in moving forward and learning from defeats.
“Obviously it was very disappointing, we were so close and if we hadn’t drawn that one game and just won against Botswana we would have made it through to the quarters,” Krstic said.
“A lot was learned from that and it was good to talk to my own teammates in Lynny, Bec and Tash individually, and I actually organised a session with my sports psychologist and we chatted for about an hour over the phone, which was really good.
“I also had a chat to some of the coaches individually as well, I’m a person that likes to talk about it and to see where I’ve gone wrong or where I can improve.
“I think that’s what helped me, if I just stayed quiet and not spoken to anyone maybe there would have been too many internal thoughts in my head, so it was good to let it all out and focus on my next game.”
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Caption: image owned by Getty Images.
