Balanced lifestyle has Samuels poised for strong Rio challenge

With a wedding on the horizon, a balanced lifestyle and a solid world ranking behind her, NSWIS discus star Dani Samuels is in a good place coming into the Rio Olympics.

Since winning the world title in 2009, Samuels has endured a range of positives and disappointments in the sport, the biggest of which came at the London Olympics.

After battling through qualifying at the Olympics four years ago, Samuels then suffered an injury during the final. It was far cry from the strength shown by a victorious 21-year-old three years prior at the world championships.

Now at the age of 28, Samuels says she is feeling stronger and is ready for Rio, a claim evidenced by a significant 67.02m throw in Germany last week, a throw bigger than her 66.77m that netted a podium at the IAAF Diamond League round in Shanghai in May.

“I’m really excited to get in the mix for Rio,” she told reporters at the team training camp in Florida.

“I’m 28 now, I’m heading into the time when I should be at my strongest as an adult female.

“I’ve got a massive base behind me, I’ve been training hard since I was 16.”

In the recent past almost everything in Samuels’ world has been geared towards Rio, however it is the few things outside of that – such as an October wedding – that have helped keep the Rio medal contender on track.

“I’m in a good head-space this year,” she said.

“My life outside athletics is really good, I’m really happy, everything is going fantastically.

“I throw well when everything is going smoothly and I’m happy with everything else in my life. That shows in my throwing.”

Croatia’s Sandra Perkovic is favoured to defend her Olympic title in Rio.