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Staffordshire athletes blog their paths to London 2012 |
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As the start date of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games gets closer and closer a few Staffordshire athletes, who are aiming for selection to a GB Team, provide a monthly blog to track their progress over the next 12 months. So read on to hear about their quest and amazing sporting experiences...
Introducing Joe Clarke - Canoe Slalom – K1 category
Hi, I'm Joe Clarke, 18, and I compete in the sport of Canoe Slalom for Great Britain. I'm on the current U23 Great Britain Canoe Slalom team and my aim is to win the Olympics and World Championships!
I began Canoeing when I was 11 and haven't had chance to look back, racing up through the divisions and breaking onto the Junior team back in 2009, it has certainly been one great journey so far, and this is just the start!
Canoe Slalom is a sport for almost anyone so if you think you can tackle the white water and be competitive I will see you there!
September's Blog...
After living in Nottingham for only one week and a half, I competed at the Paul McConkey memorial slalom and won it adding my name to some legends within the sport! This meaning I have qualified my place for next year's Olympic selection and have maintained my number 1 ranking!
I have since managed to settle myself here and have started my training towards next year's Olympic selection already, doing some hard physical work in the gym and on the water.
I believe that with me moving to Nottingham and becoming a full time athlete training and racing should certainly excel anything that has come before. There's no limit so for me I have got a very exciting 8 months ahead! Watch this space!
To find out more visit
Introducing Kian Emadi - Track Cycling
My name is Kian Emadi. I am a track cyclist specialising in sprinting. I am a five-time national champion in a variety of sprint disciplines (match sprint, keirin and kilometre time trial). I have represented GB as an Under-16 and in the Junior European and World Championships. At the Junior World Championships in 2010, I achieved a 4th and 6th place, and our team sprint ride set a British Junior record. I am now in my first year as a senior rider, and I am a member of the British Cycling Olympic Academy in Manchester and of the GB Under-23 team. In 2011-12, I am hoping to be selected for the World Cup competition series, and, if all goes well, to represent GB in the 2012 Olympics.
September's Blog...
Whenever asked about what a typical training week contains, it is always difficult to answer as the training varies a lot depending on what I am focusing on improving. For example, during the winter, the focus is on strength and endurance so the training is tailored towards a lot of gym and road. As the season starts, the focus then switches to speed and explosive efforts.
I am now preparing for the National Championships at the end of September, and the training is a lot more specific with more emphasis on speed and power. I am not doing any gym sessions and not as much road riding. The races at the Nationals in which I will be competing are the sprint, the keirin and the team sprint. The sprint is preceded by a 200m qualification event. From this, riders are seeded and compete in a knockout competition. The keirin is a race which is paced by a motorbike for 2km, and then the last 500m are a free for all. The team sprint is similar to the relay in athletics, with three riders each doing one lap; however, the riders follow one another around the track and one peels off on each lap.
It will be quite a big competition, with all the top riders in the country entered, looking to test their form. Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny and Ross Edgar are three big names riding and have multiple Olympic medals to their names. It will be difficult but I’m looking forward to a big hit out with good form.
To find out more visit
Introducing Mark Fosbrook - GB Wheelchair Basketball
These are only a few of my sporting achievements. I have always worked within the sport and leisure environment. I have managed fitness clubs, run a sports department at a Specialist College and have also been the Performance Manager for the Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby Squad. These previous roles have given me a wealth of experience. I am currently the Aiming High: Disability Sport and Physical Activity Officer for Staffordshire, am based within the County Sports Partnership – SASSOT, and develop opportunities for young disabled people through out Staffordshire.
To find out more visit
Introducing Claire Nixon - Water Polo
Water Polo is team game, which can be compared to swimming, football, basketball, wrestling and ice hockey all at once! With a goal at each end, 7 team players (including goal keeper) in the water at one time, it is considered to be fast and tactical.
Claire Nixon - picture credited to SWPix.com
September's Blog...
It's been a busy month so far! After a week's rest, it was back to hard training for a week, then a week's preparations for the Four Nation tournament in Manchester that coming weekend. To make the week even more chaotic, I moved in to student halls in Manchester.
The four nations involved were: GB, China, Canada and Germany and it was my senior debut international competition. Senior games are a lot quicker, more physical and organised compared to junior level so for my first game to be against China (currently 2nd in the world!) was terrific. It's been exciting to be part of the team that came 3rd at our first home four nations. (Canada - 1st, China - 2nd, GB - 3rd and Germany 4th).
August's Blog...
This month I have had no competitions, as I was illegible to play at the World University Games, China, as I am too young to compete and have not been doing/done a university degree. As only 13 go to competition and there is 20 in the squad, I have been training with the remaining squad members and sometimes the GB senior men’s team. At the end of this August month we have a week's holiday recuperating before the hard slog before the Olympics.
Introducing Jacqui Slack - Elite Triathlete
I’ve been competing in triathlon for 7 years now and have been professional for 2. For the last 2 years I have taken a career break from my job as a firefighter to pursue my Olympic dream and make the GB Olympic team. Triathlon consists of 1500m swim, 40k bike and a 10k run. I travel all over the world competing in triathlon amongst the world’s best athletes. My best results to date are 17th ITU World sprint championships, 2nd British Elite series, 1st Strathclyde European cup champion, 12th ITU World Cross Triathlon championships, National Cross Champion.
It was a beautiful morning down in Camberley. I was just focused on the race I knew it was going hurt as I’ve not put the training in over the last few months but like I said there was a job to do. I also love racing so deep down there was nowhere I would rather be no matter how much it hurt. Swim, bike and run all went ok, I actually felt better than I have done in a while, I felt strong just not fast and no extra gears. The bike course was pretty straight forward mostly flat, lots of fire roads and some single track, a totally different experience to round 3 in Scotland. The run was fast and flat through the woods which was lovely I was cruising along at what I thought was a good pace. Little did I know I was being chased down. I was leading the women’s race the whole way through until the last 150m when Kerry McPhee came storming past me to take the win - I had no idea she was coming and couldn’t respond. I was a little gutted not to take the win but Kerry had a cracking race and was the better athlete on the day well done Kerry. It’s exciting that the female race was so close and I look forward to battling with Kerry next season. All in all the series had given me a bit of something to focus on and all though I wasn’t feeling at my best at times I thoroughly enjoyed the races and hope that they get the same support next year only with more athletes. It feels great to end this very bad season on a high and with a title at least! At the moment I can safely say I’m a very happy girl and totally motivated going in to next year. Can’t wait to start training properly again.
It’s not all been bad this year I finished 12th at the ITU world cross champs whilst suffering a crash and several mechanicals, 2nd at the Blenheim elite triathlon as I was just coming back into form, 4th at Sardina Xterra pro race and now national cross champion it’s really not that bad just know I’m capable of much more!
Hope you enjoyed reading this one. Thank you so much to my sponsors Internet Central, Royle’s, Champion Systems and Staffordshire Fire & Rescue Service. I will Keep you posted on my decisions over the next few months
To find out more visit:
Introducing Michelle Ross-Cope - GB Runner
Hello my name is Michelle Ross-Cope, I’m a 39 year old mother of 3 beautiful girls. I started running at the age of 12 for City of Stoke AC and have never stopped since. I progressed through my career running for Staffordshire, The Midlands, England and then finally made the GB Team in the Ekiden Relay and three World Half Marathon Championships. I currently race at a number of distances from 5k up to the marathon. However my dream would to be in the Olympic GB Marathon Team at London 2012. In 2010 I represented GB for the marathon, running in the European Championships at Barcelona. I led the British team home to a team bronze medal. I then went on to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi where I was the first British runner home again. The marathon is not only a very hard physical test it is also a mental battle as you go through the ups and downs that happen as the race goes on. It takes a lot of training and after a race it takes a considerable amount of time to recover, but the feeling of achievement is more than worth it. I also have to take great care to stay healthy and try and avoid injury with weekly physio.
To stay on top of any injury and to prevent any aggravation to the Achilles I have been having weekly physio in Manchester (I have the bruises to prove it) and I’ve also been able to train on an Alter G Treadmill at Loughborough (the treadmill allows me to run at a reduced body weight which is good to reduce the stress on the muscles and joints).
After doing a couple of sessions with my coach and a group in Birmingham we decided that I should get out and race, we picked a nice quiet 10k race to go out and test my fitness on and to see where I was at so we could move forward with my training.
I am pleased to say I won the race not my quickest time, but it was great to pin a number on and have all the pre race nerves again.
To find out more visit: http://www.rosscoperunning.co.uk/
Adam Burgess - Canoe Slalom (C1 and C2)
September's Blog...
I raced at the Interclub Championships in Bedford earlier this month, winning the C1M class, and my club (Stafford and Stone Canoe Club) came out on top once again. I quite like racing this event because it’s very different from what we normally race on. The river is very narrow and shallow with not much water going down it at all, unlike the big white water at the Lee Valley White Water Course in London.
The following weekend I raced the Paul McConkey Memorial Slalom, race number 7 in our domestic ranking series. These aren’t races that those racing internationally take too seriously, but it is nice to do well. I finished 3rd in C1 and also in C2. The C2 result I’d consider to be good considering that was the first time Greg and I were back in a boat since the World Cup in Prague. But in C1 I have to say I was a bit gutted. I had an awesome week's training, coming out on top in all the sessions, some by large margins. I was the fastest in the semi-final which meant that I was last boat to start in the final. I felt really good in my warm up and I could hear on the commentary some good paddlers messing up their runs. I think I got a bit too excited to race and went too hard off the start, because I managed to incur a big time loss at gate 2. In trying to make up the time I lost little bits further down the course, but managed to finish in a respectable third place. More importantly, this performance does secure myself a place at the selection series next April for the senior and Olympic teams. Good to get myself a place there early so I’m not under pressure trying to get it next year.
Read more about Adam and his previous blogs
Mark Proctor - Canoe Slalom, C1 category
September's Blog...
I will now go on holiday to America for 8 days to wind down and make sure I'm fully refocused going into winter training. I've given it my all for the last 11 months and I feel I deserve this break. And with it being the last push going into the Olympic year I can't wait to get started.
Read more about Mark and his previous blogs
Emma Wilkins - Swimming
September's Blog...
My dry training programme has increased significantly, my weekly calendar has almost doubled.
Another date has been added to this year's calendar for National Squad Swimmers, a two-day orientation camp to be held at the Olympic Pool. This is so that we can familiarize ourselves with the environment, it will be fantastic to be one of the first few swimmers to experience the Olympic Pool.
No competitions this month as it's the start of the season, and therefore preparing for competitions during November & December. Its' just constant hard work, pushing my body to the limits.
I did take one day out, a photo shoot for Zoggs Swim Wear, it was great working with photographer, Simon Wright of GB Swim Stars , and cant wait to see the photographs.
Emma also shares her experiences on http://www.facebook.com/thegamesandme
Read more about Emma and her previous blogs
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