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Every month or so, one of our athletes or volunteers
will be profiled here. If you would like to see someone
featured Featured Athlete:
How would you describe yourself to someone who has never met you? I hate questions like this! erm, I suppose I'd say I was quite happy, positive, sociable and reasonably calm! (I've just asked my sister and best mate Elly what they would describe me as and in unison their exact answer was "oh god, weird!!") How did you get into athletics? Well I always did a lot of sports in high school (including the long jump in the Merseyside Youth Games) and at KGV there was less opportunity to do sport. I got restless and Andy Hudson (from the club) suggested that I came down to the track and gave me some email addresses. I have no idea why but I chose to email Graham and sent some stupid message asking if I was too old to join at the ancient age of 17!! I was originally training for long jump, but in March did a few 100's and triple jumps and kind of moved on from long jump!
Do you prefer 100m to triple jump?
The 100m is my favourite event. I prefer
the all or nothing adrenaline rush and the fact that you are actually
running neck to neck with your opponents. The only down side Who coaches you? My
main coach is Mr Graham "make em train till they're sick" Pilkington.
But it's more of a team effort between loads of coaches including
Tina, Dan and Caroline & Pete, all of whom I'm really grateful
to. Who are your favourite athletes or role models and why? In terms of athletes the first Olympics that I was old enough to really understand was 1992 Barcelona, so that was what has always inspired me. I used to get up at 6 every morning to watch the start of the day with Queen's 'Barcelona' song! So the likes of Linford Christie and Sally Gunnell. My twin sister has also been a huge help, being twins we tend to push each other along and she has been the biggest supporter of my athletics at home! What does winning mean to you? To me a good race is one where I perform to the very best of my abilities irrespective of whom I'm racing against, though of course the competitive side of me generates the desire to win all my races! But I'll only really get annoyed with myself if I don't run well (which happens a lot!) What did it mean (a) to
get to English Schools and (b) to win a silver medal
It was such a crazy year, my first ever competition was the indoors
in Birmingham where I did the long jump-I'd always been told that
I wasn't a sprinter so my aim was to go as far with the long jump
as I could. It was a real shock to qualify for the 100! And in
terms of winning a silver medal I was very very lucky! I was aiming
for fourth or fifth (just not last!) but I was lucky with who
was competing. Still, it did mean a lot to me, just a Finally, what are your athletics ambitions? I don't like to look too far ahead because you never know what will happen, but in 2003 I would love to go to the AAA U20 champs and make the final for the 100m (maybe even enter the 200m!) Of course, everyone dreams about a GB vest, but I'm going to see how I run this summer before really thinking about running at a higher level! Anything else you would like to share with us? Just to say that I've really enjoyed the past year and a bit with the club! And I'd also like to thank my squad and coaches for the past and forthcoming year-they are the best squad, an amazingly talented group of people and I'll miss them all next year but that's still a long way off!) Thanks Helen. You've certainly made an impact in the last year and inspired a lot of young sprinters. We all look forward to your future successes. Published January 2003 Other interviews: |
Tell
us something about yourself. I'm 18 years old
(19 in January '03) and was born and brought up in Southport.
I've been to Stanley High School and KGV Sixth Form College -
where I studied physics, chemistry, biology and maths! At the
moment I'm working at Dunes Leisure Centre in Southport as a lifeguard
but next year I'll be off to study medicine in Manchester, London
or Birmingham so that maybe in a few years time I'll be a doctor!!
Do
you do any other sports? As I said, in Stanley I played
hockey, netball, rounders and football. But outside of school
sports I play a bit of badminton and also have been trampolining
for about 7/8 years - though you couldn't tell! 
to the 100m is that you only get one shot at it. With the triple
jump I'll usually have three trials and after each I can feel
(and be told!) where I've gone wrong so that I can try and rectify
that for the next jump. But I've found that if my first jump is
bad then generally they all will be!
are
more enjoyable than others, such as 60m turnabouts for speed but
others can be quite gruesome such as running as far as you can
for 1 1/2 minutes, then for 1 minute, then for 30 seconds three
times over! They're the kind of sessions where I feel ill and
achy but the squad pull each other through and when I get home
I think "yeh, I've really worked tonight and it will pay
off in the long run!" Basically, no-one makes me train, but
I want to run faster and I believe that if you want something
then you've got to go out there and strive for it; it won't just
come to you.
year
ago I could never have imagined how involved I have become in
athletics-there's nothing like the buzz of competing and to come
away with a medal just completes it! As Graham said though it
really was a squad medal and a reflection on how well we train
together, I would never have even got there if it wasn't for the
help of the whole squad especially with my starts!
