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There are so many reasons why the ninth national women’s javelin record set by Tori Peeters is her most exciting yet.

In Yokohama in May, the 29-year-old Cambridge-based athlete hurled the 600gm spear out to a massive 63.26m.

The performance added 86cm to her previous New Zealand record set at the 2022 Jennian Homes New Zealand Track & Field Championships and also ensured Tori met the performance conditions set by selectors for the World Athletics Championships.

Yet study the details a little closer and her second place finish at the Continental Tour Gold Meet in Japan makes even more impressive reading. The performance ranks her as the seventh best in the world in 2023 and she currently sits inside the world top ten on the Road to Budapest rankings. Meanwhile, she also earned the not insignificant scalps of world champion and good friend Kelsey-Lee Barber and world bronze medallist Haruka Kitaguchi.

It was some performance, and one which fills her with optimism she can compete with the very best leading into the World Athletics Championships.

“The throw gives me quite a bit of confidence, and even though you are up against girls with bigger PB’s and who are capable of throwing further, it proves me you just have to show up on the day when it counts. It was a huge confidence boost for me.”

The seven-time New Zealand javelin champion has dominated the event domestically for more than a decade and last year she had the opportunity to test herself on the major international stage.

At the World Athletics Championships in Eugene she disappointed to finish 24^th in qualification with a best of 53.67m and at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Kiwi placed fifth with 57.86m – well short of her national record at that time of 62.40m.

The performances, particularly in Eugene, led to some serious soul-searching and she came to the conclusion she needed a more robust mental approach. To help fix the issue she sought out Southland-based HPSNZ mental skills coach Jason McKenzie.

“After the World Championships and Commonwealth Games I felt there was quite a significant gap in terms of my mental performance space,” she explains. “I didn’t devote enough time or energy to this under my previous mental skills coach, and I didn’t have validation of the importance of this until after last year.

“I’ve known Jason since school and with him knowing me also we are really able to dive into what makes me tick and do it in a way I’m truly honest with myself. We have also been working through my performance processes to ensure I’m more relaxed and rhythmical about my throwing.”

Tori admits that competing in a pool of 16 athletes at the World Championships and waiting 20 minutes between each throw was a new experience. So to ensure the Kiwi is in the best possible place between rounds she has since identified having a relaxed chat with others between throws enables her to retain a good mental state.

“In Yokohama I had Mike (Barber, the coach of Kelsey-Lee Barber) to talk to and banter with between throws which kept me relaxed.”

While Tori has devoted time to building mental resilience unfortunately her physical wellbeing let her down during an up and down 2023 domestic season. She hurled a season’s best of 60.60m to secure national title number seven and also claimed a noteworthy overseas success at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne with a 59.00m effort but a number of niggles impacted on her ability to produce her very best.

“My shoulder gets a bit grumpy every now and again and then after it settled down my foot flared up and I missed the Sir Graeme Douglas International,” she adds. “A huge part of throwing well is being confident with your body, and I just wasn’t confident.”

Following the end of the season, Tori also made the difficult decision to part company with Debbie Strange – her technical coach for the past five years.

Leaving Debbie, who has played a major part in her progression as an athlete, with no coach in mind to take up the reins made the decision event more challenging, but it is one which she insists was required.

“It got to the point where I just needed to make a change,” she says. “I didn’t know at the time what that would look like, and it was a stressful situation, but I was confident I would be able to figure something out.”

It was recommended she connect with Kirsten Hellier, the 1994 Commonwealth Games javelin silver medallist who guided Dame Valerie Adams for more than a decade from shy schoolgirl to Olympic shot champion.

Tauranga-based Kirsten connects with Tori for throws two to three sessions a week in either Hamilton or Cambridge and given their status as two of the finest female javelin throwers in New Zealand history – it is a relationship that has been quickly forged.

“I find there is a strong connection between us because we both have an understanding and can resonate with that feeling of the javelin going far,” explains Tori. “That language around the feeling is a really crucial part of being able to understand the event.”

“Working with Kirsten has built my confidence. I feel like I’m in a good space and I have an understanding of how I am able to throw 70 metres.”

Working with Angus Ross as her strength and conditioning coach, there was little question that her strong performance in Yokohama had been brewing.

Yet Tori is keen to acknowledge the role that Debbie has played in her career.

“I am really grateful for the work that Deb has put in with me,” says Tori. “We were together a long time together. I do think that Deb helped contribute to that throw – it is not like I just changed coach and suddenly threw far. There are many factors that contributed.”

Tori plans to fly to Europe in early July where she will initially be based in Nice before she intends to compete several times before taking on the challenge of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August. Mentally and technically she appears in a good place to shine and the Hamilton City Hawks athlete is setting the bar high in terms of expectations.

“I want to be in the final and then on the podium,” she says.

“The distance I threw  in Yokohama was only 1cm off what the bronze medallist threw at the World Championships last year. Throwing 63 metres bodes well with being up there. What I learned from the Commonwealth Games and World Championships last year means I’m confident in what I can achieve this year.”