2012 Olympics | my sports thoughts

WILLIAM SHARMAN: SMEs AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES – WHAT’S IN IT FOR US?

Posted on January 31st, 2012 by mysportsthoughts

With the cost of becoming a ‘tier one’ Olympic sponsor amounting to £40,000,000, many small-to-medium-sized businesses can be left feeling as though the Olympics coming to London is passing them by. To be able to generate the kind of revenues that a blue chip company spends on sponsorship alone can seem a remote possibility.

Olympic sponsors have exclusivity to use the magic five rings logo on their products and so it is easy to associate those companies with the big event. However, it is not every day that the Olympics comes to London and as the event gets closer, it’s hard not to notice everyone around you getting excited and the overwhelming, contagious energy. It’s great to have the marketing rights to put the London 2012 logo on your merchandise but there are numerous other ways to get involved and to ride the rollercoaster of London 2012!

One way to get involved with the Olympics is to support an athlete in ways such as helping them with costs associated with training, helping them to purchase better equipment or to seek professional advice to help them on their journey. You can then invite your athlete into your workplace which has motivational factors for staff. As a Company you will find yourself more engaged in the Olympics as a whole now that it seems far more tangible to you and your business. This is not to mention the fantastic benefits you can both glean from the partnership in the media: as an athlete I am frequently asked about my ‘team’ including which companies assist me.

The Olympic Games will generate a huge injection of money into the economy. Athlete and visitor accommodation and associated hospitality services, plus the new infrastructure and superstructure required all generate knock-on work and revenue for manufacturers and suppliers. In turn these firms require new support services such as software to operate efficiently and effectively.

The Olympic Games is the greatest sporting arena of all time. It’s about finding a Champion among Champions. But it’s also about participation, which is why so many countries from the globe compete. However there would be no Olympic games without the SMEs that allow the games to happen. They are the gel between the athlete walking into the arena and the blue chip sponsors financing grand scale projects. The Games are for everyone and they involve everyone.

William Sharman is Britain’s top 110mh Hurdler, currently preparing for the Olympic Games. He maintains a keen perspective on key issues relating to business. He has a BA in Economics from Leicester University and an MSc in Banking and Finance from Loughborough University.

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, William Sharman | Comments Off

CIARA HORNE: KEEPING MYSELF BUSY

Posted on January 24th, 2012 by mysportsthoughts

As some of you are aware, I’m a physiotherapy student at the University of Birmingham. Last year I put my degree on hold to try and make the Olympics in the Team Pursuit. It was always a long shot and despite being one of the most improved teams on the track last season, the team failed to gain any Olympic qualification points in Astana put this goal just that little bit too far out of reach.

I always maintained that, if possible, I would like to complete my degree and in January I started back at university. Thankfully, my university are being incredibly supportive and allowing me to do my degree part time, which enables me to continue training at the level I already do and complete my degree. By no means is it easy, but it is achievable.

I started a hospital placement at the beginning of January so was straight in at the deep end! I was incredibly nervous about starting back but thankfully I have a very lovely team of people around me on my placement that are all very supportive and understanding of my sport.

So… my life now consists of training, revision, my placement and work. It has given me a new appreciation for how much time there actually is in the day and makes me wonder what on earth I did with my time when I was just training full time. I’ve always worked alongside my sport so I did a lot more of that until now, but I’m a lot more disciplined with my time and seem to have a to-do list most days.

At the moment I’m in the middle of a very hard block of training and I seem to feel pretty tired all the time, but I know the results will show. I’ve finally started doing weights sessions and am combining this with a lot of endurance work as well as managing to make it to the track. So it is definitely full on.

Despite the odd moan, I secretly love the DOMS (Delayed On-set of Muscle Soreness for those of you that aren’t familiar with the term) feeling from all the hard work! Weird? Maybe, but then I’ve always loved training hard and often have to be told to ‘relax and go easy when it’s easy’.

So, what’s next for me? I’m really hoping to have secured a World Championship spot in the Individual Pursuit and Points race… and there are plenty of other goals for the season… so watch this space.

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Ciara Horne, Cycling | Comments Off

EILISH MCCOLGAN: THE RON PICKERING MEMORIAL FUND

Posted on January 24th, 2012 by mysportsthoughts

I have to say a very large thank you to the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund for supporting me throughout 2012. They are a wonderful charity helping to aspire young GB athletes fulfil their dreams in memory of Ron Pickering, the great athletics coach, BBC sports commentator and TV Presenter.

It has benefitted many young athletes over the years that have gone on to become World, Commonwealth and European Champions. I unfortunately had never heard of this charity before, until the start of this year, when I had the chance to be on a GB Team with Ron’s son Shaun, who is now a UKA Throws Coach.

Hopefully with the 2012 Olympics and 2012 Commonwealth Games looming, this small charity will start to gain more sponsors and recognition for the services they provide to young up-and-coming athletes!

For more information: http://www.rpmf.org.uk/

Or…

Follow them on twitter at @runforron

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, Eilish McColgan | Comments Off

LAURA TURNER: HAPPY NEW YEAR ONE AND ALL

Posted on January 14th, 2012 by mysportsthoughts

Well as I sit here (in my front room) at 9.30pm on New Year’s Eve, I reflect on the year past and, of course, the year coming.

2011 was a decent year for me on the whole. My best memory was winning the 100m and 200m double at the England Championships, my worst memory was the injuries that plagued the second half of my season.
There were many more great memories along the way like my warm weather training trip to Arizona where I visited the Grand Canyon with Rafael. Spending my birthday in the UK for the first time since 2004, I was able to see my friends and family which meant so much to me. My memories are always athletics orientated, in a few years I will have a more varied list of memories but for now it is all TRACK, TRACK, TRACK.

2012 is set to be the biggest, toughest, greatest and most memorable year of my life so far. I have my targets and am working harder than ever to achieve them. Keep following my progress via my website and twitter to see the excitement unfold as we get closer to the Olympics.

The Christmas and New Year period is a strange one for athletes. The only thing I am concerned about is when the track is open. I have been lucky this year as Lee Valley has been open every day, other than Christmas Day.

I have not been able to relax as much as others may do around this time. No lounging around all day eating left-over turkey and chocolate, instead I have remained in my usual routine. I allowed myself to deviate from my usual eating plan on Christmas Day, other than that it has been business as usual. This can be tough, but not when you have an Olympic Games to qualify for in seven months. Of course I wouldn’t have it any other way, I am not complaining about the lifestyle I have chosen.

Well, it’s now 10pm and I am off to bed. Hope you all have a great New Years Eve.

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, Laura Turner | Comments Off

JAMIE BOWIE: REFLECTING ON 2011

Posted on January 14th, 2012 by mysportsthoughts

It has been a while since my last blog, but Hogmanay (New Year’s Eve) has given me the perfect opportunity to reflect on what has been an amazing year. It’s certainly been a whirlwind year and I would like to share with you my highlights of 2011.

January brought with it more snow and hampered my preparations for the looming indoor season. With February came a month of competition with the indoor season, breaking up the monotony of winter training. Despite battling the snow early on in the year, I was more than content with the results I posted. I claimed my first win at the British Universities (BUCS) Championships with a new indoor personal best in the 400m of 46.75s. I then went on to defend my Scottish 400m Senior title, the following week at Glasgow’s iconic Kelvin Hall.

In March it was back to the hard work, putting in a gruelling block of training with 300m and 500m reps. Then with the momentum and the success from indoors season behind me, I headed out to Monte Gordo, Portugal in early April for a two week training camp. Some good weather provided a great backdrop to a hard block of training to prepare for the 2011 outdoor season.

May marked the beginning of the outdoor season and I went into the new season with my sights firmly set on a spot at the European U23 Championships and to break into the 46-second mark for the 400m. I kicked off the season with another selection for the Scotland at the Loughborough International for the 400m and 4x400m relay – my first senior call up for Scotland for the individual 400m.

In June I smashed my personal best at the International Flanders Athletics Meeting, Oordegem, Belgium – winning my race with 46.78s. Then it was straight off to spend two weeks with my coach in Poland ahead of the UK U23 Championships and European Trials. (As an athlete who is remotely coached, it was great to spend time with my coach!) It was a busy month and in between graduating with a first class honours degree from Heriot-Watt University I also claimed bronze at the UK U23 Championships and European Trials – securing my place in the GB 4x400m team for the European U23 Championships.

In July I set off to Ostrava, Czech Republic for the European U23 Championships. It was a great honour to represent Team GB for the second time and after a near miss from the medals two years ago I was determined to come back with a medal. A medal is what we came back with, GOLD nonetheless! Running the fastest relay split of the team, 45.33s, I was glad to say that on third leg I formed the cornerstone of the fastest U23 GB quartet since 1992.

August marked the end of my 2011 outdoor season, cut slightly short with a hip-flexor injury. It was then a month off in September, taking a well deserved break and spending time with friends and family. A month soon passed and October arrived, bringing with it the hard gruel of long runs and winter training with 2012 in sight.

At a UKA Olympic Preparation Meeting in November, I got to meet my idol and current record holder for the 400m Michael Johnston. Sharing his experiences from three Olympic Games, there was a lot to take in. December marked a return of the snow (thankfully not as bad as it was in 2010) determined not to let the snow hamper our session we were armed with spades and shovels…clearing the way for our 500m reps and clearing the path to 2012!

Well 2012 is only minutes away…I wish everyone a Happy New Year and as I sit here having a quiet new year I hope that 2012 is full of excitement!

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, Jamie Bowie | Comments Off

CIARA HORNE: CALI WORLD CUP

Posted on December 19th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

I arrived in Cali with seven days to go until race day and was super excited to be racing the Individual pursuit for Ireland.

The week leading into it I was really happy to see some fast times which gave me an extra confidence boost, with new personal bests in pretty much every session I did.

Race day; I warmed up on the rollers and felt really good. The race itself; I went out a little fast and died in the last three laps. It was quite windy and the use of double discs meant that on the banking I was being pushed up to the red line and was trying to avoid hitting sponges on the way down.

Positively, I nearly caught my rider and was happy to walk away with a four second personal best and 11th place, just .3 outside the top 10. Whilst I had hoped to place in the top 10, you cannot control other riders performances, only your own. With a personal best of four seconds, I could not be disappointed as I’m clearly moving in the right direction.

Next up, a big road block and I’m hitting the weights.

Have a great Christmas everyone!

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Ciara Horne, Cycling | Comments Off

EILISH MCCOLGAN: A PROPER CATCH UP

Posted on December 19th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

Nov/Dec I started out this blog as a weekly thing, however I have been so busy with rehab, work and a few other things that I recently keep forgetting to update it! Anyways… I will try and give a bit of a recap of what has been going on over the last three weeks.

Christmas Lights in Glasgow

As part of UK Athletics I was asked to go through to Glasgow for the Christmas Lights being switched on. I didn’t realise that myself and Eilidh Child would be dragged on stage in front of hundreds of little kids waiting for some panto show to start.

We were questioned about 2014 and the fact that Glasgow Kelvin Hall is going to be hosting the last ever International match for Team GB. Apart from the fact it was minus 100 (slight exaggeration), it was a really nice evening. The train journey on the way home was not so nice. For some unknown reason, we were stopped at Perth and the train then proceeded to wait a full hour at Perth Station before eventually making its way to Dundee. Absolute nightmare… Scottish Rail seemed to be having a few issues that day, as I went on Twitter and there were hundreds of very angry passengers. Some very amusing tweets and it helped pass the time.

My 21st

It was my 21st on the 25th November! Decided to have a quiet one (with me having a broken foot and all) but it was a really good night. I went out for a meal with most of my training group then headed out for a few drinks with some more folk. It had been months since I had seen most of them and so it was nice to get everyone together again like we used to.

I received a laptop from my parents (and some other family members)… a Macbook Air to be precise. Best decision of my life! I think I may be in love with it. My boyfriend also completely spoiled me. He made me pancakes in bed and then gave me a ridiculous amount of presents to open –completely spoiled.

Awards in London

We then made our way to Edinburgh Airport to catch a flight down to the UK Aviva Awards in Westminster, London. It was a really good night apart from my boyfriend freaking out when he lost our flat keys for the night. Very funny looking back – but not very funny at the time.

We were extremely lucky to get the chance to meet the world renowned magician Dynamo! Not going to lie, it was pretty amazing. He made me choose a card, sign it, then put it back into the pack. He continued to burn a 10p through the cards and it just happened to stop on my card! Pretty cool… He did loads of other tricks very close up with loads of us and I have no idea how he does it. We also had a little visit to the photo booth which was also a lot of fun with all the 70s and 80s props to choose from.

I had a really nice birthday in London, getting showed around by Howell’s family friends who live in Temple. I just wish we could have stayed longer. One day I will live in London… decided.

My little brother

Good news that my little brother is out of hospital and back to being his normal annoying self again. The police also managed to get his bike back after someone had stolen it when he was taken into hospital.

Rihanna

As part of my birthday, my mum bought me a ticket to go and see Rihanna in concert – which was unbelievable! If there is one person in the world I could be for the week, Rihanna would definitely be high up that list. The show was a bit x-rated though for some of the children that were sitting next to us. She was grinding away with all these little girls beside us copying her dance moves, slightly weird. Calvin Harris was DJ-ing beforehand as a warm up which was also pretty good.

Scottish Sports Awards – Thistle Hotel, Glasgow

I also had the chance to go along to the awards as my mum was nominated (and won) the Coach of the Year Award. She volunteers and gives up so much of her time to help our training group and yet gets no rewards apart from our performances, so it was nice to see her receive a bit of recognition after a tough year. Brendan Foster, Walter Smith and Kenny Dalgleish were along the big names whom attended the awards and we had a really good night.

Physiotherapy

Twice a week for the last month I have been travelling through to LifeFit Physio in Grangemouth to see David Bowmaker. I could not thank him enough for his help with my rehab and thankfully I am back running again! Wooohoooo!

Everything has been built up gradually, from pool running to cross training to running on a trampette to finally jogging! I have managed to build it up to a three mile run and have been extremely lucky with my foot, it is totally fine with no symptoms whatsoever.

The next week

I am off to London on Wednesday to see Dr down at St John’s Hospital for a quick assessment on whether the foot is strong enough for me to head out to Kenya on the UKA Altitude Training Camp. I believe my foot is gaining more and more strength every day and is quickly progressing, so fingers crossed it all goes well.

Hopefully I get some last minute (slash start) my Xmas shopping. I also need to arrange to go over to Belgium to get my orthotics altered in case my running gait has changed due to my ‘new’ foot. It would be ideal for me to get these sorted now, before Xmas, however they are 400 Euros plus flights and so I need to start saving.

My main reason for wanting to go over to Belgium to get them done is because I have been previously and absolutely swear by them. They completely eradicated all previous issues that I had (as I have really dodgy, boney feet…mmm!) and their whole set up was extremely professional and helpful. http://www.rslab.be/en/lab for more information…

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, Eilish McColgan | Comments Off

ABDUL BUHARI: BIG CHANGES IN A SHORT TIME

Posted on December 19th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

It’s now December 17th. So much has happened since my last blog – both training wise and life wise.

Firstly I was invited to speak at Oxford University on behalf of my employers Credit-Suisse. The topic was based upon balancing work and elite sport. I also discussed how accommodating Credit-Suisse have been. The presentation went well and l was sat alongside some distinguished guests from the bank. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I hope l gave some good advice to the prospective leaders of industry.

My next project was just as exciting. I was lucky enough to be involved in setting up the first European Speaker Series Event at Credit-Suisse involving three of the country’s best Paralympic athletes. We were joined by Hannah Cockroft, Dan Graves, Libby Clegg and myself. Each of us spoke about successes, challenges and goals. The event was a success and as a bonus we raised some money for charity which was pleasing especially during these testing times.

Right back to training. My training has been going well. Technically, my coach and l have been pleased with the improvements we have made and we are at the stage where we can now start putting it all together. These components, alongside the rest of my training, have allowed me to make some big jumps. I am more athletic this year and technically happier.

I am currently on a heavy week of training and will be for another week before I head into the seasonal period. I will then head into a recovery week. Current weather conditions are not exactly ideal for throwing a long way, however I am managing to fine tune this art for the first time in my discus career.

January is a time which I am very much looking forward to it. I will be heading out to South Africa alongside some of the members of the GB team. During my time there I will be training hard and building on what has been a successful winter thus far. It will also be an opportunity for a little change of scenery. The warmer climate will be a welcome change.

Until then, I hope you all have a great Christmas, and a fantastic New Year! Let’s all make 2012 something special.

Be safe

Abs

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Abdul Buhari, Discus | Comments Off

BOBBY WHITE: CHRISTMAS BREAK IS NO HOLIDAY

Posted on December 19th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

We have now reached the Christmas break with my club Valence HB. Our next match is on January 7th but I am now heading into a busy International period with GB and will not be back in France until the 17th.

We have been performing well and up to this point, we are still unbeaten in the league and are looking like strong contenders for promotion. For me personally I can feel that I am improving, we have some very good technical shooters so I am being tested day and in and day out at training, but court time has been lacking due to my late arrival here and some fine goal keeping displays from our other keeper.

I am heading back to Milton Keynes to spend some time at home before Christmas. I’ll have about a week to spend with my family and friends but also I’ll be visiting the gym regularly to maintain my current programme. It is easy to slack off this time of year, but for me it is more important than ever to maintain a good routine.

On Boxing Day the GB squad are travelling to Latvia where we will play three matches against Lithuania, Estonia and the hosts. It will be a difficult tournament for us. We will be missing GB top scorer Steven Larsson who will be playing in the Norwegian League Cup Final with his club – Drammen.

We will know what to expect from Estonia having been beaten by them at Crystal Palace last summer so hopefully we can see an improvement there. Lithuania and Latvia are very strong sides and it will be interesting to see how we cope as typically they will have stronger depth and experience than us.

These matches will be great preparation for arguably our toughest test as a squad. On January 2nd we will be heading to Austria where we will play the first of our World Championship qualification matches against the favourites to advance from our group. They have recently appointed a new coach who will be intent on making his mark and they boast a host German Bundesliga stars including Nilcola Marinovic, Roland Schlinger and Robert Weber.

The quality within the Austrian squad is exactly the kind we can expect next summer so for us to measure up against them now is a great opportunity and one that every player in our squad has to relish. Personally, I will be happy to line up against some of my former team mates from my time at A1 Bregenz. I will be able to pass on some experience and knowledge having trained with around five or six of the guys expected to be in the squad and hopefully that will work a little bit in our favour.

We will be playing the return leg in London on the 8th of January and I am once again looking forward to playing in front of a home crowd, hopefully a little taste of what is to come next summer.

For now, I wish you all a merry Christmas and all the very best for 2012!

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Bobby White, Handball | Comments Off

ELAINE O’NEILL: I AM BACK

Posted on November 25th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

Well, 2011 has been one hell of a journey.

Just after I competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games I underwent surgery in my left ankle to correct a bone spur that had been hindering me for over a year. I then did not run properly for over four months, spending most of my time slaving in the gym. Come the outdoor season, my first race was over before it started- literally!

I managed to disqualify myself through false starting at the Bedford Games, something I have never done before. It wasn’t a good experience and I vowed to myself that I will not do it again. A few weeks later I was hit by an Achilles problem in my right leg which stopped me from going to what would have been my last European under 23 championships, or in fact finishing the season at all – disappointing to say the least. However, what I can say is, 2011 has taught me patience and discipline. It also provided me with more fire in the belly to get going for 2012.

I am glad to say, I’m back.

So far, my winter season has been going extremely well and I’m very pleased with how training has been going. My body is healthy, and so is my mind (always I think important for successful athletes).

My coach Tom Crick, who I have been working with since 2008 is putting tremendous effort in with our training group, and is very pro-active in keeping us all fit and injury free. As I am currently not on any UK Athletics funding I can’t receive any physio treatment from them, so he uses his free time to provide us with soft tissue treatment we may need to keep us ticking over.

Welsh athletics have also provided a great set up that allows the Welsh athletes in Loughborough to receive free physio treatments throughout the week. These sessions have been invaluable to me, as this support helped me get back on my feet.

Today is my rest day, one of two per week and I’m currently sitting on my extremely comfortable sofa in my new house – it has been a very hectic week so far, moving house into a two bedroom place. I moved from our previous house due to a housemate that, let’s say, loves to ‘party hard’!

So it’s great to be finally settled in here. As well as my training, I am currently in my 3rd year of a Sports Science Degree where I split my final year in order to balance the amount of work and training more effectively.

So far it’s going well, but I’m looking forward to mid January where we have a month off- this happens to fit in perfectly with the indoor season. For now, I should be getting on with some work, until next time.

Thanks, Elaine

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, Elaine O'Neill | Comments Off