5 October 2009

Niall Flannery is adamant he won’t fade into the wilderness at Loughborough University – despite becoming one of a long list of potential future Olympians at the well-known sports development centre.

The 18-year-old will share the track with the likes of world silver medallist Lisa Dobriskey and European Under-23 100m champion Harry Aikines-Aryeetey at Loughborough – but insists that will only inspire him.

Flannery looked nailed on for a medal at the European Junior Championships back in July after travelling to Serbia ranked the second fastest in the 400m hurdles with a personal best of 51.07seconds.

Disaster struck when he hit the penultimate hurdle in the final and fell from first to fourth – but with his new-found help at Loughborough – Flannery believes the same thing won’t happen again.

“It is going to be an important time for me now having made the switch and starting at university but I am confident I can do just as well,” said Flannery.

“I am still going to do some work with Jared Deacon but obviously I will work more with Nick Dakin now at Loughborough.

“But even though it is a change it shouldn’t be too bad because the two coaches have been talking to each other for quite a few months now.

“They have spoken about the different training plans I have been doing and what sort of person I am and things so it should be fine.”

Meanwhile, heptathlete-turned-hurdler Ben Reynolds has vowed to tap up top coach Malcolm Arnold in a bid to come of age on the track next year.

The 19-year-old failed to make the 110m hurdles final at the European Junior Championships but was given an end of season boost after a chance encounter with Arnold.

Arnold famously coached Olympic silver medal Colin Jackson and more recently David Greene – who finished seventh in the 400m hurdles at the World Championships in August.

A persistent shoulder injury – which will be operated on in November – has seen Reynolds ditch the heptathlon for good and with the help of Arnold he has vowed to make an impact in the hurdles.

“Malcolm saw me competing and he told me that he thinks I have got a lot of potential which was really encouraging to hear,” said Reynolds.

“He wants me to come and do some training with him which would be great as he is one of the best coaches in the world.

“I think there’s going to be quite a big improvement from me at senior level as opposed to junior as the height of the hurdles will suit me more.”