Portia Bing speaks up for the first time about her non-selection for the Tokyo Olympics.
Portia is the NZ 400m hurdle record holder after beginning her athletics career as a heptathlete, representing NZ and placing 5th at the World Junior Champs, and 16th at the World Champs in 2015 as a 22-year-old. Since turning to the 400mh she has represented NZ at the 2019 World Champs in Doha. 
Although Portia was within the top-40 in the world for her event, warranting a spot at the Olympics, Portia explains why she wasn’t selected, what the appeal process was like, and what needs to happen to prevent the confusion of the selection process from happening again. We also discuss her moving to France to train with decathlon WR holder, Kevin Mayer, and juggling her full-time athletics career and working full-time in law at the Serious Fraud Office.

Instagram: @portiabing (https://www.instagram.com/portiabing/?hl=en) 
Photo of Portia on Cover Photo: PhotoSport

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
2:51 Early Career as a Heptathlete
7:27 Why the switch to 400m Hurdles?
10:32 Seeing the Professional Side of Athletics in France
13:45 Moving Overseas for your Sport
19:37 Juggling Working in Law with Training
28:38 Olympics – Why I wasn’t selected
39:16 Motivation to train when it feels like opportunities have been removed
49:46 Outro