9 April 2015

With the summer season on the horizon, Hannah England (coach: Bud Baldaro) faced a different challenge last week when she faced the task of inspiring 60 school children from Lozells Primary School in Birmingham. The World 1500m silver medallist put the Year 3 classes through their paces with several physical activities, and answered questions from the school children who had been studying the Olympic movement as well as taking part in athletics events in PE.

England took time out of her schedule to lead drills and exercises to engage the school children with the sport. After practicing relay handovers in Alexander Stadium, the schoolchildren were certainly excited to meet the Olympian who they have been studying in the classroom.

The Bud Baldaro-coached athlete said: “It’s really fun to spend this time with the kids; they’ve got a lot of energy. It’s really exciting to see it at that age and you hope that they will maintain that passion for being active. I hope they carry that passion throughout their school life.”

England is now looking forward to competing in front of a home crowd in Birmingham with the Sainsbury’s Birmingham Grand Prix and Sainsbury’s British Championships due to take place on the 7 June and 3-5 July respectively.

“Alexander Stadium is definitely my favourite place to compete. I’ve been based here for 10 years and it’s always fun to train and compete at this track. It brings back so many memories of the nerves and the excitement because the atmosphere is great here.

“I’m hoping to run at the Diamond League here in Birmingham at the start of June if everything is going well. It’s always a great crowd here because they know their athletics.”

England flew out to Fort Romeu in France last week where she will train over the next month. It is a key part of her preparation for the outdoor season which will culminate at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing where she aims to be in the best possible shape.

“I’ll be doing a lot more base training in Fort Romeu to build my way back up into doing the really intense track work. I’ll be getting ready to open up my season in early June to tune up before the British Championships where I will try to qualify for the World Championships in Beijing.”

The Oxford City athlete is not taking qualification for granted and is aware of the strong British athletes she will face to earn selection for China. Among them are European 1500m bronze medallist Laura Weightman and Laura Muir, who will provide thrilling domestic entertainment.

“The first goal is always to make the team. As always, the British team have a great bunch of 1500m girls and it’s a massive challenge in itself to qualify for the team, so I try not to look too far past that. However, concentrating on that and achieving qualification puts you in good stead when moving onto the World Championships.”

England won the world silver medal behind Jenny Simpson of USA in 2011 after a stunning sprint finish ended with her first major medal. She is aware of the challenges ahead but is taking it one step at a time as she targets a successful 2015.

Tickets for the Sainsbury’s Birmingham Grand Prix (7 June) and Sainsbury’s British Championships (3-5 July) are on sale now. Buy tickets online by clicking here or call Ticketmaster on 08000 556056