The Games is a massive event where 8,500 student athletes and officials from over 150 countries take part in 18 different sports.
“It was a cool experience,” says Emma. “It was really awesome to be a part of the New Zealand team—to wear the fern was surreal. Most track meets are pretty small, so it was the first time I had run in a huge stadium with seating all around. You could feel and hear the crowd cheering.”
Emma ran in the women’s 800m, 1500m and 400m relay events. The relay team came sixth overall in the final and recorded a time in the heat that was just below the New Zealand national record.
Roger Robinson is Emeritus Professor of English at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. A life-long elite runner, he has authored many acclaimed books about running. Roger proudly notes that Emma is the third Roger Robinson scholarship recipient to have represented New Zealand so far, with James Preston running in the Olympic Games and Maia Flint at the World Mountain Running Championships. Roger set up the scholarship, along with a bequest in his will, to support students who wish to combine academic and sporting excellence.
Emma took part in every sport at primary school, including cross country running and swimming, but only began competitive athletics at Wellington Girls’ College at the age of 16. She was then coached at Wellington’s Olympic Harriers club.
After studying economics and finance at Te Herenga Waka, Emma headed to Wake Forest University of North Carolina in August 2022 on a sports scholarship.
So how does a Wellington runner obtain a prestigious athletics scholarship?
“I received a surprise message on Instagram from National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) offering me this opportunity when I was in Year 12, and they kept in touch,” says Emma. The NCAA was clearly keeping an eye on up-and-coming athletes, as Emma was New Zealand Secondary Schools 800m champion in 2020.
Emma says, “Studying in the States has been fun and I’m glad I did it. As a full-time athlete everything is organised for you with a rigorous schedule and there are a lot of opportunities. I treat it as if I am their employee.
“The biggest difference with Victoria is that Wake is a small university and most of my classes would have only 30 people in them, so it’s quite personal.”
After completing her Master’s in Business Analytics next May, Emma hopes to find work either in the UK or back in New Zealand—and to keep running if possible.
Since arriving in the States, she has had to overcome two knee surgeries. A torn meniscus in January 2023 meant several months off running, then the meniscus was completely removed in April 2024. To recover and run in the Games required massive determination, patience, and resilience, however in her most recent college season Emma made the quarter finals in the 1500m.
Emma can look to Roger Robinson for inspiration as he was able to return to running in his early 80s after two knee replacement surgeries. Despite being lapped by other runners and passed by a nine-year-old girl, Roger enjoyed challenging himself to break age group records which he describes as “like pedalling a bicycle in a Nascar race.”
Roger is married to inspirational women’s running pioneer Kathrine Switzer, whose non-profit '261 Fearless' has empowered millions of women through the act of running.
Emma says: “When I came to the States and people talked about the Boston Marathon, I was able to say that I had met the first woman who had ever run it.
“Roger is and always will be an amazing mentor and icon to me. The scholarship I received was incredible in supporting my athletic career, which has gone very well with my first-ever New Zealand team!”