Watch the 2023 Pacific Games LIVE and FREE on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand from November 19-December 2, with 126 hours of live coverage.
The 22-year-old Australian-Ghanaian from Western Sydney is on a mission to become only the third professional female Australian triple jumper in history, having already become national champion earlier this year.
Owusu's path into the sport came from participating in athletics carnivals at Blacktown High School, discovering a natural ability that caused her to consider pursuing it as a career.
"It was basically like school carnival," Owusu told SBS.
I was making zone and regionals, and I was doing pretty well without any training. So then I thought, well, why don't I put some training behind this and see how far it takes me.
"I started training seriously when I was about 15 and I think (after) a few months of training, I was able to win a state champ. I think I was 16 at that time. So 16 years old, winning a state champ, I was like, okay, I think it's time to take this a little serious."
From there the accolades came thick and fast for Owusu, winning gold at the Combined High Schools Athletics Carnival in her final year of high school before breaking the Oceania U20 record in 2019 to shoot up the national rankings to 4th at just 18 years old.
Now, with coach and former professional triple jumper Andrew Murphy, who also coaches sprinter Rohan Browning, Owusu's 2023 has seen her win a national championship and take her talents international with a sixth overall finish at the World University Games in China.
Such rapid progression over a six-year career to date has her eyeing an Olympic dream just next year in Paris, a real possibility if she can achieve maximum points at the Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands after being selected by Athletics Australia as part of the squad of 20.
"I've been doing this sport for what, six years now, and it's always been my dream to be an Olympian," Owusu said.
"I think to know that you're really up there with the world is actually crazy. Like it's the entire world. So going into [the] Pacific Games, I need the win. That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to prepare to win."
Currently ranked 51st in the world, Owusu needs to be in the top 32 female triple jumpers to qualify for the Olympics when the deadline comes around next year, and a strong performance at the Pacific Games will go a long way for her hopes.
"Pacific Games is a 'B'. It's B rated," she explained. "So it goes all the way up to F, A is like the best one.
"So B means I need to jump well to get good points. If I get good points, then my ranking will go up a lot higher."
To date, Australia has only had three Olympic medalists in triple jump, all males.
Another motivation for Owusu is the opportunity to be a role model for young people in her community and wider Australia.
"When I was growing up, looking at the Australian team, there wasn't many people who looked like me," she said.
"So it's like, well, I don't see it, so how do I know I can be it?
"I need to be that face for younger girls and boys just so that they know, yeah, I can do it too. Why not?"
Owusu will get her chance to shine at the Pacific Games in the event's second week, when all the athletics events take place. You can watch every day of the Games live and free on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand, with the opening ceremony getting proceedings underway on Sunday November 19.
