Event: 100 metres
DOB: 27/07/90
Age: 20
How do you think the last year has gone when you look back?
It was a very successful year. I started off the season getting PBs nearly every week, I picked up a couple titles that I had never won before like the British University Games and I won my first national medal as well. And at the English Championships I got a PB that I was really happy about – 10:25.
What are your hopes/aims for this year?
My indoor aim is to make the European team and my outdoor aim is to medal at the European under-23s. And if they have a team at the World Student Games I’d like to go there as well.
It’s the 2012 Olympics in London next year – how do you feel about that?
It’s exciting – it’s definitely something I dream of. To have it in London is amazing, it would be amazing to compete in my own city. It also starts on my birthday so it would be a wicked birthday present!
What are you doing to give yourself the best chance of getting there?
Training hard, eating well, resting. I don’t have a special diet but I do stay away from stuff like McDonald’s and Burger King. I don’t drink either.
Which athlete’s career would you like to emulate?
My idols are Maurice Greene and also Linford Christie. Maurice Greene was a very confident athlete. The best part of his race was the first 30m and that’s my favourite part of my race as well, so I’d like to copy what he does. Linford Christie, like myself, started late. I started seriously about two or three years ago at 16/17, but my breakthrough was at 19/20.
Was there a particular race that you ran where you thought, ‘Yes, I’m going to do this seriously now’?
When I was really young I used to do hurdles – my mum was a hurdler – so I was always jumping over hurdles and practising hurdles with her. When I went to high school it was all about being the fastest.
Was there an added pressure from your mum having an athletic background?
No, I thought it was a fun thing to do, and then I took it more seriously.
You like to draw – tell us a bit more about that?
When I’ve got spare time I just draw or design different things. I do product design at university so that’s a part of my work anyway, but when I’ve finished my work I’ll sit down and draw. I’ve done a few designs for T-shirts or I draw stuff that I see in my house just to practice.