Herald Now: Sport - May 27th 2025
Video / NZ Herald
At 17, Milly Marshall-Kirkwood is already setting the standard in seated throwing and has her sights set on the World Para Athletics Championships and the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics.
Her life has been full of challenges from the onset.
As a toddler, she was diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome, a geneticcondition that affects the connective tissue in her cells and major organs. She wasn’t expected to live past 2.
Over the years, she has had heart surgeries and operations to her lower legs, but the syndrome impacts her daily life, including her vision and mobility.
Despite adversity, the Taranaki-based teen continues to defy the odds.
In a short space of time she has established herself as one for the future as a seated thrower in the F57 category, competing in shot put and discus, although she prefers the latter.
In seated shot put she holds four age group records and she‘s third in the world for under-20 women. The resume is more impressive for the seated discus, where she also holds four age group records, along with the open women New Zealand holder and second in the world for U20 women.
But Marshall-Kirkwood admits to being hesitant to the idea of competing initially after being told she would be a good seated thrower by Athletics NZ’s high-performance para lead, Raylene Bates.
Marshall-Kirkwood had previously thrown standing and said the idea of being good because there were not many other women seated throwers didn’t sit well with her.
“I wanted to be good because of my hard work, not just lack of competition,” said Marshall-Kirkwood.
“I was also hesitant about seated throwing because I’d spent a lot of my life trying to hide my disability. Seated throwing felt like a very visible way of saying, ‘this is who I am’.”
Her mindset changed shortly after during a Halberg Games event in Palmerston North when she met seated throwing coach John Eden, a former Paralympian who represented both Australia and New Zealand.
“He brought a throwing frame, and I tried it for the first time - and my throw was close to the NZ record,” said Marshall-Kirkwood.
“I had a frame made, and competed in the NZ Secondary Schools meet a month after that and broke the age group records in shot put. It all took off from there.”
Like most people with disabilities, Marshall-Kirkwood was often left out of sport growing up, which as a kid was tough to take.
She credits her dad, Rob Kirkwood, for being a main motivator behind getting into sport.
Sadly, her mum, Paula Marshall, hasn’t been around to witness her journey. She went to the emergency department with acute stomach pain and, just eight months later, the 49-year-old passed away after a battle with bowel cancer.
“I think all the tough things, disability, bullying, losing mum, just made me want to succeed even more,” said Marshall-Kirkwood.
Rob Kirkwood and Paula Marshall with their children Daisy (front), Milly and Archie Kirkwood. Paula lost her battle with bowel cancer last month. Photo / Supplied
“If dad hadn’t reached out to John, I wouldn’t be here. That one message led to everything – my coach, my throwing frame, my sponsors.
“He‘s the reason I started. I do the work now, but he made it happen.
“People use the word ‘resilience’ a lot, and I think that fits. It’s not just about having goals, but about pushing even harder when life‘s been tough.”
Being involved in sport has changed her life for the better.
“Not just physically, but through the people I’ve met, what I’ve learned, and the strength I’ve gained,” said Marshall-Kirkwood.
“Being an athlete isn’t just about training, it’s taught me life skills.
“I’ve wanted to study medicine since I was five, and school has always been easy for me, and I never had to work hard toward that. Sport gave me goals, discipline, and the confidence that I can achieve things when I put in the effort.”
Marshall-Kirkwood recently returned home from the Australian Nationals in Perth where she won gold in discus with a 17.55m throw and bronze in shot put with a personal best of 5.45m.
Even though she claimed two medals, she wasn’t very pleased with her efforts.
“That was one of my worst competitions. I had been throwing really well, then they updated the World Champs qualifying standard and we were pushing hard toward that.
“I felt good going into Perth, but the throws just weren’t there.
“It was hard, because I didn’t know what went wrong, so it was difficult to learn from it. But I’ve since learned there will be loads of bad comps.
“I just hadn’t had one before. Up until then, I was used to PBs and good performances.”
The next World Para Athletics Championships will take place in New Delhi, India later this year, but Marshall-Kirkwood won’t be attending, with her next target being the Oceania Championships in Darwin next May.
But the ultimate goals remain Los Angeles in 2028, where she‘d focus on discus.
“The drive I have, especially mentally, is what separates me,” said Marshall-Kirkwood.
