Deanna Lockett

Awards and honours

She was Australia's flag bearer for the opening ceremony of the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan. (olympics.com.au, 18 Feb 2017) She was named the 2016 Female Short Track Skater of the Year by Australian Ice Racing. (australianiceracing.org, 03 Oct 2016) She was presented with the 2010 Australian Junior Female Athlete of the Year Award. (aimforthestars.com.au, 2011)

When and where did you begin this sport?

She took up short track at age nine in Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Sporting philosophy / motto

"Never give up." (Athlete, 01 Feb 2017)

Reason for choosing this sport

"I like getting out of the Australian heat, and fell in love with skating."

Hero / Idol	Swiss tennis player Roger Federer. (owia.org, 30 Apr 2017)
Nicknames	D (owia.org, 01 Apr 2014)
Most influential person in career	Coach Chun Jae-Su. (Athlete, 01 Feb 2017)

www.facebook.com/Deanna-Lockett-1376601232551795/
twitter.com/Deannalockett

Injuries	She missed the first four events of the 2015/16 World Cup season due to glandular fever. (owia.org, 30 Apr 2017)
Ambitions	To win a medal at the Olympic Winter Games. (owia.org, 30 Apr 2017)
Other information	SPEED SKATING EXPERIMENT After competing in short track at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, she decided to try speed skating and moved to the Netherlands to join an international group of speed skaters under coach Desly Hill. However, she found she did not enjoy the sport and returned to short track a few months later. "I absolutely hated it. And it was also hard to master a new kind of sport, which was a lot different to what I expected. I just couldn't even get the rhythm of the skating, it just felt really different. I trained for about three months in the Netherlands and I didn't enjoy it. I couldn't wait for the training sessions to be over. That made me realise, I either have to stop or skate short track." (isu.org, 04 Jun 2020; passionpvss.blogspot.com, 21 Feb 2020) AUSTRALIA TO HUNGARY Having previously represented Australia in short track, she switched her sporting allegiances to Hungary in order to advance her skating career. She gained Hungarian citizenship in May 2019 and began competing for her new nation in the 2019/20 season. She had previously trained with the Hungarian short track team for a number of years, and says the lack of training opportunities in Australia was a motivating factor behind her decision to switch allegiances. "I was just at a stage where if I wanted to progress, I had to do something different, and I think the Australian federation understood it. Australia isn't at a point where we have a big training group where I can push myself, and I was tired of constantly having to find other teams to train with. As an Australian it all relied on me. It made me race a little bit more on the safe side. But now I'm trying to take more risks because I have room to do that, and I think that will help me develop in the sport. Since I had trained with them [Hungary] before I pretty much knew everyone, and the women's team in Hungary lost a few older skaters, so there was an opening. It was kind of a perfect timing for me." (isu.org, 04 Jun 2020; passionpvss.blogspot.com, 21 Feb 2020)

Club / Team

Ferencvarosi Torna Club: Budapest, HUN

Milestones

Her bronze medal at the 2017/18 World Cup event in Budapest, Hungary, was Australia's first short track medal in 1500m at the World Cup. (isu.org, 18 Dec 2017; SportsDeskOnline, 19 Jan 2021)