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The thing about high performance athletes is that often, even when they take a break, they don’t really take a break.
For two-time dual Paralympian and Olympian Melissa Tapper, that meant her first decent stretch of time off in 13 years of top-level table tennis was interrupted by running a marathon. Yep, from Frankston on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula back to her home in South Melbourne. Alone.
“I had close to four months off after Tokyo, which was the first time in my career I’d taken more than two weeks off,” Tapper said from Germany, where she was preparing for the World Para Championships in Spain, starting on Sunday.
“I eventually got back to Hamilton, which is such a special little town. Just going home to see my parents and my girlfriends who still live there, it’s so nice to see everyone and humbling to have strangers in the street wish me luck or congratulate me. It’s really lovely.
“It was all a nice change, but after a while I found I needed something to occupy myself. So I decided to run a marathon.”
Tapper was going to run the Melbourne Marathon but had a prior engagement. Instead, in December, her husband drove her to Frankston and checked in with her every 10 kilometres or so as she ran the 40-plus kilometres back home.
“I got into running during lockdown and found it was a positive change-up for me,” she said. “It’s been good for my head after so much table tennis – and I love a good challenge.”
That’s fortunate because after the Games, where she won a silver medal alongside Qian Yang and Lina Lei in the Team C9-10 event, Tapper’s future was in doubt. She says she “didn’t feel any great urge to get back into it” and was only slowly drawn back by her love of hard work.
Congratulations to our Women's #ParaTableTennis team – Lina Lei, Qian Yang & Milly Tapper – SILVER in the Class 9-10 Final. In a tight battle for gold they went down to #POL 11-9 in the 5th set. #ReadySetTokyo #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/ocllDcGx43
— AUS Paralympic Team (@AUSParalympics) September 3, 2021
The Commonwealth Games trials were coming up and, as the reigning C6-10 champion, she wanted to defend her crown. However, with former China representatives Qian and Lina ranked higher than her, it wasn’t to be.
“I tried to qualify for the Comm Games, I put my hand up and wanted to be there,” Tapper said.
“It was tough, the Para- side of things, because I won the gold medal on the Gold Coast, which was probably my favourite event I’ve ever played in. But I’ve got really strong teammates now and, with the change in qualification rules, I missed out.
“I still had the second round, with the able-bodied players and got incredibly close but again, with the change in qualification, I just fell short.
“The way I look at it is that I put in a really good stint in the lead-up to that time and played some of my best table tennis, so it was a bit bitter-sweet. Overall, though, if I look back on my career, I’ve just loved it. You always want one more tournament, one more medal, but I’m happy with what I’ve achieved so far.”
Tapper’s peace with her success to date, as well as starting a job recently with consultancy firm Ernst and Young, has given her what seems a refreshed outlook. Leading up to the World Championships, she’s been training five or six days a week, nearly five hours a day, as well as added gym sessions.
“We keep competing because we love the adrenaline that comes from playing in big tournaments and every time you do it, you want to be at your very best,” she said. “I’m hoping I can be in that place this time again. I’m training really well.”
Of Qian and Lina now being part of the Australian Team, she said: “It has its positive aspects and its hard parts. The biggest thing is that people are talking about table tennis now. It’s on people’s radar and there’s more conversation, which is a huge win for all of us.
“That’s the most important thing, that table tennis is growing. This is the biggest team we’ve sent to a World Championships and we’ll be one of the biggest teams at the tournament, which I think is pretty awesome.
“Even though we play an individual sport, when you’re trying to achieve goals, you really need a village behind you. That includes all the staff, coaches, support people, training partners and teammates as well.
“I do feed off the environment I’m around, but something I’ve worked on in the last few years is to know that when I don’t need that, I can stay in my own bubble and give myself what I need.
“It is an individual sport but it’s still very important to push one another and support one another because anyone’s result is everyone’s result.”
Tapper said she is enjoying this stage of career and life, in general.
“I’m working part-time in the people advisory team at Ernst and Young, which is all new to me. I’m starting from scratch, but the athlete in you – you just want to keep learning and do the best you can. It’s challenging but a great opportunity for me and I guess when I train and compete now I’m really grateful for it.”
By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 4 November 2022
