Going out on top: Emma O’Keeffe completes sport aerobics journey with world championship triumph

The vision of that fairytale ending was what drove Shepparton sports aerobics athlete Emma O’Keeffe for more than three years, as she prepared for her final world championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic earlier this month.

Having already claimed world glory in a team event in 2014, her goal this time around was simple.

Take out the crown in the Master Women solo category and retire a champion.

And after countless hours of hard work and sacrifice she was able to achieve that goal, winning the title with a near flawless performance.

“It was a massive build-up this year because we hadn’t competed since 2019, so over those three years it was always my goal to take away the gold and finish my 20 years on top,” O’Keeffe said of her mindset leading into the event.

“I was worried that if I didn’t win I would have definitely come back, because I wasn’t going to quit until I had won the title again.

“So, for me, this result is the culmination of three years of hard work and sacrifice.”

When it came to preparing for the event O’Keeffe ensured she would leave no stone unturned.

Having spent the entirety of her career training from her home town of Shepparton, she decided to make the bold call to shift her life north to work closely with one of the country’s top coaches.

O’Keeffe outlined what was an extremely challenging, yet rewarding build-up.

“This year was my most successful in the sport and it all came about from the hard yards I put in,” she said.

“I moved my whole life to Newcastle to be coached by Vivienne Lattimore, who had been working with me for years remotely, but I made the call this year that I needed the extra support to get me in prime condition for the championships.

“It (the move) wasn’t a decision I made lightly, it was so hard to leave my family and friends and I’m born and bred in Shepparton and love the town so much.

“I also had a few injury concerns throughout the year, I broke my foot in May, so there were a lot of setbacks to overcome which made the win all the more satisfying.”

Coming into the competition in peak condition O’Keeffe described how the victory transpired.

“We had two rounds in the solo being the semi-finals and then the final,” she said.

“I was fortunate enough to be ahead after the first round, but it was close so I wasn’t content with my position by any stretch leading into the final.

“So I just had to make sure I did everything right in that final, which brings about a lot of pressure when you are in the lead, but I trusted myself that I had done the work, the mental prep, the physical prep and was in perfect condition.

“It was all down to me getting the job done at the end of the day and I was really proud to have done that in the final.”

O’Keeffe’s trip to the world championships also created a unique slice of history, something she said came as a massive shock.

“I am the first person in the history of the sport to have competed in three different sections (solo, pairs and team) at worlds,” she said.

“I didn’t actually realise I had done that until someone mentioned it to me after the championships.

“But upon hearing that I was super proud of myself, it was a very hard year to juggle three different routines, but I did it and to finish in two of them in the top two I couldn’t ask for more than that.”

As for where this experience ranked among her 20 years in the sport, O’Keeffe said the feeling of standing on the stage as world champion was the ultimate highlight.

“I love being a team player and love sharing the stage, but I really believe there is no better feeling than standing up there by myself knowing I did everything needed to become the world champion,” she said.

“This world championships experience was definitely the highlight of my career, to see all the hard work pay off the way it did, it is hard to put that feeling of satisfaction into words.

“I basically put my entire life on hold to achieve this goal and to achieve it was the cherry on top of many years in the sport.”