![Keely Small has set her sights on the Paris Olympics next year after making her comeback. Picture by Hamish Blair Keely Small has set her sights on the Paris Olympics next year after making her comeback. Picture by Hamish Blair](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/j2iwCiKfwhVWJky39Vsdpt/2a2d1719-34c5-4548-8276-9304635b2477.JPG/r0_80_3000_1767_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Keely Small is used to the fast pace. Making her Commonwealth Games debut while still at school? No worries. Youth Olympic Games champion? Easy.
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But one of Australia's brightest track stars was ready to quit running for good when doctors told her she had to slow down and she stumbled into a career spiral.
"I was in a pretty dark spot to be honest," Small said. "We were pushing to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics and then the scan showed something in my back. We kept going, but it wasn't healing and then it showed up as a fracture.
"So I couldn't run for 12-18 months. I couldn't swim. And the thing is that made it hard to come back to running because I got used to having a normal life - the stuff I missed out on through high school.
"I didn't know if I'd ever get the love of racing back. I thought I'd be burnt out before I was 21. It's taken me to this point here in Melbourne with this new team and Craig [Mottram] to say, 'yeah, I'm ready to do this again'."
Which brings us to this week. Small, 21, was one of five athletes named of a new Australian-based professional athletics group - On Athletics Club.
Australian long-distance great Craig Mottram will lead the group that also boasts Small, Ben Buckingham, Claudia Hollingsworth, Tess Kirsopp-Cole and Maudi Skyring.
They will train in Melbourne and travel the world for events and camps to unlock their talent and compete for medals at the next two Olympics.\
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It's a remarkable turnaround for Small, who struggled to get motivated by the sport she loved following a disappointing stint at the University of Oregon and then injury woes.
She had heard rumours of the On Athletics Club move when she returned to Australia and says Mottram has given her renewed confidence as she eases back into racing.
Small won the ACT championships 800-metre event last month and has races planned in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and the national championships in March before going overseas.
"It took me a while to get over what happened at Oregon, it was hard to bring myself back to running," Small said.
"But a phone call from Craig came at the right time and the move to Melbourne has helped with everything. I was needing a fresh start and it is hard because my family and partner are still in Canberra, but I'm lucky because the group's flexible.
"I'm happy to be a part of this, I'm in a good spot and Craig has helped me get that love back. I'm fitter than I've ever been and I didn't think I get back to this point. To be a part of the first five people in Australia to be in this club - to have the chance to be a professional runner - is really exciting."
![Craig Mottram, centre, will lead the group of five runners. Picture by Hamish Blair Craig Mottram, centre, will lead the group of five runners. Picture by Hamish Blair](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/j2iwCiKfwhVWJky39Vsdpt/41b4d51c-bc60-46b8-9056-e92df2f0356f.JPG/r0_193_3000_1880_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The program will cover coaching, travel, kit and training expenses in the lead up to the Olympics and the world championships, giving Small a chance to focus solely on chasing qualification even though she's also juggling a zoology degree.
"There is so much potential in this group and I'm eager for all the big milestones and challenges we will conquer together as we look toward the 2024 Paris Olympics," Mottram said.
Small appeared destined for big things on the track when she was a teenager. She finished 11th at her Commonwealth Games debut on the Gold Coast in 2018 and finished 11th before winning Youth Olympic gold later that year.
She was shattered when scans revealed a stress fracture in her back, ruining her hopes of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics. But she says she's now using her time out as extra motivation.
"Paris is definitely the goal," Small said.
"We [the club] want to get as many there as we can and anything that happens before that is a bonus.
"I've never been on the podium at the national championships, so that's a goal. The world champions are on as well, but Paris is the main goal.
"I thought it was the end of the world when I didn't get to Tokyo. Now I just want to enjoy it, and I know I'll only be 23 by the time Paris comes around so I'm also looking to Los Angeles [in 2028] and Brisbane [in 2032]."
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