5 August 2008

27 year old sprint hurdler Andy Turner will be competing at his second Olympic Games, following his debut at Athens 2004. In 2006, he won bronze at both the European Championships and Commonwealth Games. He trains full-time at the UK Athletics North London High Performance Centre at Lee Valley.

Hi,

I’ve been in here in Macau at the Olympic holding camp for a few days and it’s great to be here. I arrived on Saturday. The flight went well and I slept most of the way. It is my second time here after last year’s World Championships.

I love the place. The physios are good, the hotel is so comfortable, the food’s great and the staff look after you so well. The athletics track is also excellent with great facilities. I love the fact that it is so warm here as well. I’ve had so many problems this year, but the heat helps keep my muscles much looser.

It’s been a frustrating year. I ran 13.41 in Doha in May, but I’ve kept getting nerve pain since then, which has meant I have not been able to hurdle properly. I had an epidural injection to ease it and I fell things are getting back together now. My sprinting is going really well, I feel really fit. I just haven’t been able to do much hurdling. But I feel if I can get two weeks of solid training in here, I think I’ll be in good shape.

I’m sharing a room with Simeon Williamson out here. I probably spend more time with Simeon than anyone else, even my family. We train together, we went out to South Africa warm weather training together and now we are out here together. If I’m not careful, people will talk!

When I’m not training here, I like to go to the Jacuzzi or play pool. My home life is quite hectic. I have two kids, one aged 3 and another aged 1, so it’s more relaxing out here. Simeon is not that great at pool. I beat him with six balls left on the table the other night. But then Lloyd Cowan, my coach, did the same to me. He hustled me!

I leave here next Tuesday and then on to Beijing. I will write again before I compete..

Andy