By: Steff Willis
In the world of elite sports, achieving excellence often involves more than just physical prowess.
It requires an unyielding spirit, a clear sense of purpose, and sometimes, a higher calling.
That’s certainly the case for Naa Anang, an Australian athlete who has made her mark in both long jump and sprinting.
Naa etched her name into the annals of athletic history by winning both the Australian long jump and 100-meter title in 2019 – a feat that had not been achieved in over 70 years. With a personal best of 11.2 seconds in the 100-meter sprint, Naa also received a bronze medal in the 100-meter relay at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and is the current national champion in the 100-meter sprint.
In our interview Naa spoke about chasing dreams and how her faith sustains her through success and setbacks.
“I think with anything, there’s always going to be challenges and that’s where your why steps in and your passion steps in” Naa said.
“If I didn’t have a passion for athletics or I didn’t enjoy it, it would have been much more challenging to persevere in those tough seasons, but also I feel like I had a lot of dreams in the sport that I didn’t achieve and I knew it was possible for me to achieve.
“I wanted to make sure that when the time came and I stepped away, I was confident to say I did everything that I could from a persevering point of view to get to those dreams, whether I get there or not is a different question.” Australian Athlete, Naa Anang
“If you’re someone of faith, just having a strong relationship with the Lord and knowing what he has for you and his plans for you because if God has placed you somewhere and you believe that that’s where you’re meant to be, that can sustain you in the toughest of seasons because it’s his strength that’s getting you through and not your own.
While 1 in 6 Aussie children dreamt of becoming an Olympian, that wasn’t Naa’s focus when growing up.
“I just was a very active child, I guess to my parents’ dismay,” Naa said. “Fortunately, I had two older brothers, so a lot of my energy went towards running around with them, trying to be like them. If they were doing it, I wanted to do it too and that got me into athletics at a young age
“I did a lot of other sports growing up, but athletics seemed to be the one that stuck.
Alongside Tokyo Silver Medalist high jumper Nicola McDermott, Naa co-founded Everlasting Crowns, an initiative that inspires athletes to glorify God through sport.
“We both just had a passion to be more faithful in sport” Naa said.
“We wanted to inspire other people to have that confidence and to be like, your faith is the most beautiful thing about you, and you don’t have to be ashamed of that or embarrassed about that.
“You can stand proudly with the best results and the worst results and still say God is good because he’s consistent in that.”
Article supplied with thanks to 96five.
Feature image: Australian Athlete Naa Anang / Supplied – Photo by Casey Sims