In the next year and a half Portia Bing has big plans.
The heptathlete-turned-hurdler has been going from strength to strength since switching codes and has the Doha Athletics World Champs and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in her sights.
“Qualifying for the World Champs would be massive for me. The last time I went to world champs was in 2015 for heptathlon so to completely change event and make a World Champs would be huge,” said Bing.
And she’s not far off, the 25-year-old broke the 400m hurdles national record in February with a time of 56.04s, just 0.04s off the qualifying time for the World Championships.
“There’s definitely room to improve. I know I can break that 56” mark so hopefully I can do that in the next few weeks.”
It’s a massive turnaround for Bing who suffered from injuries in the build-up to the Rio Olympic Games and was unable to qualify in heptathlon.
That prompted Bing to take an extended break from sport, until she decided that 400m hurdles is where she saw her future.
She credits the team around her for her newfound success which includes 3 PBs in as many races.
“One of my coaches is 89 years old and he’s been at it forever and then I’ve got a younger new coach as well and we’ve just hit this sweet spot at the moment and we’re winning.”
Although she’s taking it one hurdle at a time, an Olympic Games is definitely on the agenda.
“Tokyo is on my bucket list, hopefully I can give it a good nudge.”