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Bromley is currently finalising preparations for the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships in Busan later this week, where she will represent Australia alongside Jian Fang Lay, Melissa Tapper, and Tracy Feng.
Australia have been drawn in Group 6 together with Hong Kong, Portugal, Austria, and Kazakhstan, needing a top-three finish to progress through to the next round of competition.
Though four women will represent the nation in South Korea, only three can be selected for the Olympics in Paris, with Bromley particularly keen to impress in what is her latest tournament since becoming a mother 14 months ago.
The prospect of an Olympic call-up was considered a distant dream following the birth of her son, Lachie, but it’s one the 36-year-old now hopes to use as proof that “anything is possible”.
“I think if you asked me when I was pregnant if I would continue playing at a high level, I was 90 per cent ‘no’,” Bromley told SBS Sport. “You just automatically think, ‘oh, it’s going to be too much for someone to take on; being a mum and trying to do sport as well’.
“I was still training two days a week while I was pregnant; just to keep in touch with the community, my feel on the ball, and things like that, and I kind of just snowballed from there.
“I thought I would just use it as a bit of fitness to get back into shape, and then the next minute I was starting to compete again and actually not playing too bad. From there, I thought I may as well go for it and try get another Olympics under my belt.”
“It’s definitely been a learning curve but also fun at the same time,” she continued. “I think what I would love to do is show people that your life before having a baby doesn’t have to change too much.
“I would like to show people that anything is possible.”
Balancing life as a parent with that of an athlete has been a “fun process” for Bromley, who also threw full-time work into the mix after recently returning from maternity leave.
Nevertheless, such commitments haven’t hindered her ability on the court, with tournaments like the World Team Championships the perfect opportunity to test herself on the international stage.
“The most important thing for the Australian athletes is being able to have access to international match play,” she said. “Particularly leading up to the Olympic Games where you’ve got all the nerves and everything.
“We don’t often get too many opportunities to play internationally so, for me, I think as a team it would be awesome if we can get through the group stage.”
Bromley has plenty in the way of national team experience, having competed at both the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2020 Olympics with current teammates Lay and Tapper, two bronze medallists from the former’s 2014 edition in Glasgow.
Qualifying for the 2018 Commonwealth Games was particularly pleasing for Bromley, who, despite dominating as a junior, failed to make the respective Australian squads for Melbourne (2006), Delhi (2010), and Glasgow (2014).
It’s an experience the right-hander from Gulgong admits did test her mentally, but one that made her eventual breakthrough - borne out of patience and persistence - all the sweeter.
“I would be lying if I said I had no doubts ever after a million years of trying to get to the top of the sport,” she said. “But I knew that if I stuck to being consistent with my training plan and working hard, I would see improvements in my game.
“Yes, in the back of your mind, you do start getting niggles of thoughts saying, ‘is the hard work actually ever going to pay off?’ But it’s all about staying strong in your belief in yourself, not worrying about what anyone else might be saying - or questioning - about your abilities.
“That’s what I did; I just pushed the negative thoughts aside and kept pushing and pushing and driving that consistency and hard work into my training each day.”
Having carved a career from self-belief thus far, Bromley’s remarkable return to Team Australia should come as no surprise as she knocks on the door to Paris.
And if it is indeed the final item left on her list of achievements, it’s one she won’t be accomplishing alone.
“If I can qualify for Paris, that would be absolutely amazing,” she added. “I think just based on where I thought I would be at this stage of my life, probably not competing, and then all of a sudden I’m knocking on the door to Paris - and with a baby.
“The dream was realised for Tokyo, and it would be like a cherry on top to add another Olympics under my belt.
“But I think, for me, another big thing will be to be able to bring my family along this time… and just have them really immersed in the whole experience because they’ve also helped me get to where I am today.”
