Portia Bing tackles hurdles on and off the track

Portia Bing plans to clear hurdles and build bridges in Birmingham.

Hurdler Portia Bing will represent New Zealand at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Photo: Photosport

Bing did not take a traditional trajectory in her athletics journey and as she prepared for her second Commonwealth Games appearance, eight years after her first, she claimed she was not only a different athlete but also a different person.

Her results in the 400 metre hurdles at the Commonwealth Games in August were important to her. So was delving into the issues facing sports governance globally.

In her early 20s Bing was laser focussed on results as she traversed being a heptathlete, then a 4x400m relay runner that competed at her first Commonwealth Games in 2014 in Glasglow.

As she edged closer to 30-years-old the Serious Fraud Office advisor looked at the bigger picture of what she could achieve at international events, off the track, to close the gap between competitors and those who controlled the sports.

“This is a massive opportunity for me but it’s not just an opportunity to go win a medal it’s an opportunity to grow as a person and to understand what is happening in the world of sports at a global scale.

“I think post-pandemic we’re looking at sport with a new set of eyes and one of the really important things for me is that New Zealand has done so well to handle this pandemic and it’s awesome to see we’ve got a huge team going [to the Commonwealth Games] so now lets understand in the context of the global stage how that’s working out for us.”

Bing knew she was in a privileged position of being an athlete with a broader knowledge.

“I understand what’s happening in the governance side and how the organisation is run, but I also have a foot in what’s happening on the ground and just looking at that disconnect and understanding that you can be an athlete but you can be there and actually start to build those bridges,” Bing said.

During her build-up to Birmingham, Bing was invited by Drug Free Sport New Zealand to the attend the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Annual Symposium in Switzerland in June.

There she learnt about anti-doping and offered her thoughts on what more needed to be done to help athletes navigate the system – work she admitted was “a bit of a side passion”.

She also did a bit of hurdles training in Switzerland before heading to Portland in the United States for the World Athletics Championships where she became the first New Zealander to progress to the women’s 400m hurdles semi-finals at a world championships.

Portia Bing competing in the 400m hurdles at the Sir Graeme Douglas International track and field competition in February 2022.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

After missing the Tokyo Olympics last year, a string of international appearances this year with the World Championships and Commonwealth Games just weeks apart, was an chance for Bing – who is often in a field of one at New Zealand events – to truly test herself.

Bing’s inquiring mind was not limited to off-track situations.

She also gave her coach James Mortimer, a former national hurdles champion, plenty to ponder.

“I know that I’m really, really, hard work, I know that I ask too many questions all the time and I’m constantly challenging him and being like ‘well show me the science’.

“I’ll be running reps, I’ll be absolutely lactic and fatigued but I’ll still being trying to talk to him to break down what are the barriers, what have we done in this rep and I’ll be analysing it straight away.”

Bing was thankful that Mortimer understood her ways.

Getting to the start line in Birmingham was also a moment for Bing to showcase Mortimer’s work.

“We’ve tried really different and new things. Because I have such a diverse range of skills as an athlete we haven’t done things conventionally and this is an amazing opportunity for my coach as well, for us to stand there and see this training model on the world stage – and see are we actually on to something super amazing.”

Following a well-worn path was not Bing’s way of doing things. She had a mindset of always seeking the next improvement and no fear of changing up her training regime to stay ahead of the rest of the field.

“A lot of athletes they sometimes don’t make those changes, they become kind of complacent, and I think sport, science, technology, just the world in general it keeps moving so if you’re not moving with it it becomes very difficult to keep improving as an athlete.”

Bing realised she did not fit the Athletics New Zealand mould.

“A lot of the time they look at athletes and in terms of deciding what athletes they’re going to invest in there’s these lovely graphs about you start off and you’re in your 20s and you’re hitting this benchmark and then by the time you’re 24 this benchmark and you’re going to stay in this event and I was just scribbling on some other page.

“I’m doing 400 metre flat, I was doing heptathlon, then I was doing relays then I stopped athletics went back to uni, came back, so it’s been a bit all over the place… I feel sorry for [Athletics New Zealand].”

A medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games would be the perfect way for Bing to show those in charge the winding journey was worth it.

Bing is action in Birmingham on 5 August.