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MARKEETA MALETZ
Standing on stage at the Australian Nationals is about as far away as you can get from growing up as a coal miners daughter in the Central Queensland towns of Moranbah and Mackay.
For reasons that still baffle most of my family I became interested in physically demanding sports in my early teens. Initially I took up outrigging culminating in qualifying for a position on the Open Women’s Team at 15.
I enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in 1994 where fitness became an integral part of my life. During my time in the Air Force I was fortunate enough to be tested with extremely physical and mentally demanding training, the highlight of which was completing the Combat Survival course in 1996. During my time in the Air Force I took my love for endurance sports one step further and decided I would give Kayak Marathons and Triathlons a go. My goal was to train myself, learn as much as I could about my body and finish each event within the time limits. After competing in 111Km Kayak Marathon ,Short Course, Long Course and Half Iron man events I was comfortable that I had achieved my goals and could move on to the next phase of punishing my body. I had also decided that after numerous deployments to various interesting places over seas the time was right to leave the Air Force and take up the family business of Coal Mining.
I am currently employed as a Mobile Equipment Operator in the booming Coal Industry, which opens up a whole new set of challenges, particularly when I decided to fulfil my dream of competing in Women’s Figure Competitions. Although I have trained with weights in various forms since my Teens I soon discovered shift work and living away from home in a Mining Camp aren’t exactly conducive to good diet and training. Never one to do things the easy way I persevered and competed in my first competition in Townsville North Queensland during September 2006. From there I have competed in NABBA/WFF and ANB competitions in Newcastle, the Gold Coast and the Australian Nationals in Sydney, where I was lucky enough to qualify for the WNSO World Titles in Toronto, Canada.
I would like to thank my extremely patient and supportive husband for learning as much as he can about the world of Women’s Figure Competitions and supporting me on my journey so far.
I would also like to thank Rose Romero, without her knowledge and support I would not feel I was capable of competing overseas.
Finally I would like to thank my long suffering Family who just don’t understand why I can’t have a rum with them while I’m in training and why I feel the need to continually punish my body.
I would also like to make special mention to City Fitness in Mackay, particularly Maria and Steve who has shown me heaps of support and encouraged me in the times when I was questioning myself.
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