Taryn Gollshewsky (athletics) marked a remarkable return to international competition at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games by finishing fourth in the women’s discus. In May the previous year – just after nailing a personal best of 61.05m at the national championships and placing the Tokyo Olympics within her reach – the Bundaberg local suffered a potentially career-ending injury when she broke her leg playing soccer. She spent the next eight months out of competition before winning the 2022 national title and earning a ticket to her third Commonwealth Games. It was her best Games result, having finished 9th at her senior Australian debut at Glasgow 2014 and fifth at Gold Coast 2018.

A former national-level soccer and volleyball player, Taryn first donned the green and gold at the 2009 IAAF World Youth Championships in Italy aged 16 and a year later she was off the to the World Junior Championships in Canada. As a Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science and Master of Teaching (Primary) student at Central Queensland University, she competed at the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade – winning bronze – as well as her first world championships in London.

She competed at her second world championships in Budapest in 2023 and after a decade on the national team, finally made her Olympic debut in Paris in 2024 where she was 15th.

Born and raised in Bundaberg, Gollshewsky always resisted the temptation to move away to further her athletic career and now works as a Physical Education teacher at St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School in her hometown.