On Tuesday, head coach Tony Gustavsson named his 18-player squad (and four travelling reserves) for the upcoming Paris 2024™ Olympic Games. One player relieved to get the call-up, was Rio 2016™ Olympian, Katrina Gorry.
In March, the West Ham international went down with an ankle injury against Chelsea. She required surgery shortly after and missed the CommBank Matildas' three most recent FIFA windows.
Gorry said even though she had confidence in her body to be ready, waiting for the news of whether she’d be selected or not, was still nerve-wracking.
“I was obviously pretty anxious when I went down. I didn’t know the extent of the injury or how I was going to come back,” the midfield maestro said.
“But once I knew the diagnosis and had my surgery, I knew what my timeline was. I’d had this injury before, so I knew what to expect and I had full trust in my body that I could get back in time and was just hoping that I’d be selected on the flight over."
Gorry explained that throughout her rehab, she’d been keeping in close contact with Gustavsson and assistant coach, Jens Fjellström, who let her know of her Paris 2024™ selection via video chat.
“I’d been talking to him [Gustavsson] a lot and doing a lot of video analysis with him and Jens, but they called me on the day of selection and showed me my official letter,” she said.
“It was a really proud moment. I felt a lot of relief, there were a lot of emotions.
“Obviously, you always hope you're selected, but you never really know what's going to happen, especially being injured, so I was just super grateful for the opportunity and for the fact that they still believe that I'm going to be able to do a good job for the team.”
Proud mother to Harper, with a baby boy on the way through her fiancée, Clara Markstedt, Gorry was unable to participate in the Tokyo 2020™ Olympics, with Harper due one week after the Closing Ceremony.
It’s a decision she wouldn’t trade for the world, but says it will still make Paris 2024™ even more special.
“Olympics for me is huge. Missing Tokyo was obviously hard, but special at the same time as I became a mum,” she shared.
“So, this time, to have Clara and two little ones on the sideline to make proud, this Olympics is going to be so special for me.
“It’s something you dream of as a kid. You watch every Olympic Games, it doesn't matter what sport it is, they're the athletes that inspired you to be who you are,” she continued.
“It's definitely my priority now, to do whatever I can to have a medal around my neck at the end of it.”
In terms of being at full fitness for Paris 2024™, Gorry remains confident.
“Rehab has gone really smoothly, I’m ticking off all the boxes, which has been really nice, so the quicker I can get back into team training, the more comfortable I'll feel with everything.
“All my movements have been really good, I’ve got my strength back now and I haven't had any pain in my foot at all, so I feel like I can push more and I’m getting more and more comfortable on the field. It’s all been really positive and I’m hoping to get in some team training over the next couple of weeks.