The 19-year-old has been working on managing her pre-lift butterflies as she takes to the world stage in Tokyo.
Broome is in fine form after some eye-catching performances this year including setting a new British record in Manchester and achieving both a new British Record and Junior World Record as she clinched Junior Gold and Senior Silver medals at The World Para Powerlifting World Cup in Georgia.
Speaking to Loughborough Sport, Broome explained how she’s worked on controlling the trepidation prior to making a lift:
“This is the world stage…this is the biggest event of your career, so you’ve always got those little nerves here and there. I tend to freeze up in competition and I did that in Manchester.
“It kind of got to my head a bit and I got way too nervous. We’ve [Olivia’s support team] been quite good working on that, setting up routines pre-performance, and I tell myself ‘this is just like training’.
“I try and treat training as if it were a competition and treat every lift as if this is what I’m doing on the platform.”
The Paralympic Games in Tokyo will be Broome’s debut in the competition, and she hopes to not only achieve, but to inspire others:
“It’s my first Games and it’s always been a childhood dream of mine. To finally achieve that is really exciting.
“For me, the ultimate dream come true would be to win a medal at these Games. People are going to be watching this and, you know, I could be somebody’s role model.
“You want to put in a great performance to show them this is what you can achieve.”
Olivia’s event at the Paralympic Games will take place on August 27th (tomorrow) at 05:00am BST.
If you’re feeling inspired by the Paralympic Games, you can help support the future of Para sport on campus. By donating to the Para Sport programme, individuals can make a profound impact to a young person’s life. To find out how you can help, visit HERE.
For more information on Loughborough and its presence at the Paralympic Games, visit the dedicated website HERE.