10:00am Friday 30th July 2010
TWELVE months ago Oxford City’s Hannah England was cruelly denied her senior British bow.
But on the eve of running in the women’s 1500m semi-finals tonight (7pm), the 23-year-old insisted she was a rebel with a cause.
England was overlooked for a place on the plane to Berlin for the World Championships last summer with Charlene Thomas, Steph Twell and Lisa Dobriskey chosen for the 1500m.
Instead she watched from her front room as Dobriskey – controversially picked in favour of her – took silver.
However, she has used that heartache to her advantage since the turn of the year.
England hit the Barcelona qualifying mark after clocking 4mins 5.70secs at the European Team Championships in June before sealing selection with gold at the Aviva European Trials and UK Championships a week later.
Now she has vowed to complete her 12-month mission and bury her 2009 woes by leaving the European Championships with a medal.
“I definitely think that I am past the experience stage now and a lot of the races I have done on the European circuit has given me that experience I need,” said England.
“I have raced against almost everyone I will race against in Barcelona, so it is time to get competitive now and I have got to go there and get the best out of myself.
“I am definitely not there to make up the numbers in any way.
“I went altitude training for the first time this year and I really feel like I have found some new limits.
“I can always think ‘this isn’t real pain, remember the altitude training’ and I just want to make the final and then if I do that and I know who is in the final with me I can make a target then.”
England has a season’s best of 4.04.33 – ran at the Aviva Gateshead Grand Prix on July 10 – and is the tenth fastest in Europe this year.
Despite world junior champion Twell and world silver medallist Dobriskey both going quicker, England admits she isn’t concerned with what has happened before Barcelona, but only what happens during and after.
“You spend your whole youth racing against English girls who you know the middle names of let alone their faces or how they run the race because you have raced them so often,” she added.
“So it is good to get out of your comfort zone and race against people you don’t always race against, but saying that I think it will help me this time round to feel comfortable in Barcelona “It helps having good domestic competition, but at the end of the day everyone will have upped it by now.
“I have to look at it in a positive spin because I believe, touch wood, that I am going to arrive in the best shape of my life.”
l Aviva’s support, both at home and abroad, is helping the team prepare to compete at their best. Watch the Aviva GB & NI Team live in action at the Aviva London Grand Prix. For more details visit aviva.co.uk/athletics
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