22nd December 2008

No Let Up At Christmas

 

 

22 December 2008

 

 

 

BRITAIN’s track and field stars will prepare for the 2009 season, which opens in Glasgow next month, by following the great Daley Thompson’s example and training on Christmas Day.

 

Thompson – arguably Britain’s greatest ever athlete and twice Olympic decathlon champion – famously cut short his festive celebrations to train on December 25, claiming it gave him the edge over his great rival Jurgen Hingsen.

 

And this year a host of the country’s potential 2012 medallists will do the same as they gear up for the start of the most important period the sport has faced in decades as it starts the countdown to the London Olympics

 

First up in 2009 is the Aviva International match in Glasgow on January 31.

 

The domestic season then has two other key dates, with the Aviva European Trials taking place in Sheffield on February 14 and 15, and the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham on February 21.

 

Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu is another who will be donning the trainers as the rest of us put our feet up on the sofa.

 

Ohuruogu said: “As athletes we all know how important the next four years are and nobody wants to look back after 2012 and say they didn’t give it their best shot. Every day is important preparation.  My priority on Christmas Day is spending time with my family and enjoying the Christmas spirit but I’ll still find time to go out for a run and a light training session."

 

Middle distance hopeful Marilyn Okoro – who has already confirmed she wished to be considered for selection for the Glasgow match – says she is happy to train through the festive season.

 

Okoro said: “There are medals to be won this winter and I want do well next year and continue to be competitive. I love my training and I will be training on Christmas day. I have to keep on improving to be where I want to be.”

 

Olympic fourth placer Lisa Dobriskey – another who hopes to be involved in Glasgow – added: “I’ll be training as usual all over the Christmas period. With Christmas landing on a Thursday, I’ll be doing two runs as I would always do that day

 

“I’ve learnt from the Olympics, for example this morning I knew I had to catch an early train so wasn’t going to get a run in, yet I woke at 4.30am and thought, the girls I was racing against would get up and run now, so I did. It’s helped drive me on.”

 

 

Tickets for the Aviva International Match at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow on Saturday 31st January are available by phone on 08000 556 056 or online at www.ukathletics.net