Athletics Weekly: We’ll always have Paris – looking back at an unforgettable Olympics - video Dailymotion

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Host Euan Crumley is joined by Jenny Meadows, Keely Hodgkinson's coach as well as three of her training partners to find out more about the environment that helped to build a champion.

Transcript

00:00Yeah, yeah. And well, in terms of the medals table, Wendy, obviously, USA kind of pulled

00:15away from everybody completely dominant and setting themselves up rather well for LA in

00:212028.

00:22Yes, I mean, the American performances were, were astonishing, really. And it was almost

00:29it was almost a reflection of 1984. When we all felt like all we heard was the American

00:37National Anthem playing. There was a little bit of that. And there was some surprises

00:42from the Americans as well. You know, they snuck a couple of medals in some of the distance

00:48events and Grant Fisher and Hocker, of course, as well in the 1500s, you know, that they

00:55were to perhaps surprise performances, breaking up a little bit of the African dominance.

01:02But I think as Brits, we have to be very proud of 10 medals. The best performance since 1984.

01:10And a medal in every relay event, which was exciting because everyone loves the relays.

01:15I think they love the tension. They love the jeopardy. You boys, you know, it's slightly

01:20on edge as to whether that button is going to get all the way around. But our relay teams

01:25did really well, which was extremely exciting. So yeah, I think I think it was a great games

01:33to make you excited for the next one. And I think we had that excitement in 2012. Unfortunately,

01:40Rio perhaps didn't live up to standards. But you're absolutely right with performances

01:45like that from the Americans. You can bet your life they're going to put everything

01:50into L.A. 28. And I think for us as track and field fans, it's really going to be a

01:56games to look forward to.

01:58Yeah. And Jason, it was a reminder as well of just how global athletics is as a sport.

02:04We had winners from first time winners from, you know, some of the smaller nations like

02:11La Fonde for Dominica and Julian Alfred with St. Lucia. I think it was 27 different nations

02:18all in all had gold medals, which is remarkable.

02:22Yeah, it just shows the huge global nature of athletics. You know, it's not not the same

02:29as sports like, say, rugby or netball, where you just have a real kind of handful of nations

02:35competing in it. I mean, track and field athletics is truly global. I think my favorite

02:40statistic of the whole games as well was when Thea La Fonde pointed out that the population

02:45of her country, Dominica, was about the same as the number of people in the stadium when

02:49she won her gold medal. 70,000 people, which just kind of puts it in perspective. I thought

02:57that was a really nice, nice statistic. And as you say, Ewan, there were athletes from

03:01lots of lots of new and pretty small nations who were winning Olympic medals for the first

03:06time.

03:07Now it's time to hear from our special guests on this episode. This is an extract of a conversation

03:12I recently had with Jenny Meadows, along with three members of the Manchester-based M11

03:17Track Club. She heads up with her husband, Trevor Painter. The best known member of this

03:21growing group is Keeley Hodgkinson, who struck gold in Paris after a series of silver medals

03:26in major championships. The full feature interview appears in the September issue of AW Magazine,

03:32which you can order now via AthleticsWeekly.com.

03:35I'm just really keen to find out more about the people who Keeley's training with, but

03:40also just, you know, the group and the dynamic itself and this idea that, you know, obviously

03:46we see this big picture of success out there, but not many people see what's going on to

03:53get there in the first place. So I'd be really keen to get the perspective from all of you

04:00of what it's like to be involved in that.

04:03It definitely has changed my perspective a bit on it because before, like I was just

04:09kind of, because you just watch the Olympics from such a young age and just like when it's

04:14someone you like actually know is just, I guess that does make it seem a bit more realistic

04:19for like, like someone where you've came from. It's like managed to do that.

04:24And Charlie, Trevor's mentioned before about the sort of the healthy rivalry, sort of the

04:28boys and Keeley have in certain sessions and stuff. How much sort of fun do you guys have

04:32together?

04:33We just know, we know she's going to come at the end. It's just scripted. Sometimes

04:38we forget like that she's actually quite famous. Like you just have in a chat, like what you've

04:43got to be on for tea or something like that. And then say we go to a different, if we go

04:47to a different track or there's a few kids there, they're all asking, can we have a picture?

04:52Oh yeah, I forgot you, I forgot you were famous. You just forget how big she is.

04:58Thank you to Jenny and the athletes for giving up their time. Now, Wendy, you'll know better

05:01than most of us how difficult that is to do and why it's so important just to keep

05:07turning up and putting the work in, even when it's not easy.

05:12Yeah, I mean, I was injured in 1984 and actually quite ill as well. So I think the main thing

05:21really is to sort of to coin a rather corny phrase, keep your eye on the prize. You know,

05:28you may miss little goals that you've set yourself, but this sport is rarely one that

05:34goes according to plan. And part of the challenges, I guess, of being a successful

05:41athlete is dealing with the downs. You know, everyone can enjoy the successes,

05:46but when you're having a tough time and you're watching your competitors out there

05:51carrying on as normal, it's very, very hard. So you have to focus on yourself and you have

05:56to focus on that day and then the day after and gradually just working your way back and racing

06:01when you know it's right to race. And Keeley had to pull out the indoor season, which must

06:06have been very hard for her because she's always been very successful indoors. But

06:12I guess she kept her eye on the prize and came away with the top one. So I think it's a great

06:19example of not getting too disenchanted, not giving up, doing the horrible cross training,

06:28whether it be running in the pool or using cross trainers or going into the gym and doing the rehab.

06:34All those things are really important steps to getting back.

06:40Yeah, and Jason, this came up during the Olympics as well was, you know, with the sort of the

06:47environment that Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows have created amongst that group. Keeley's one of

06:54the group and that comes across rather than her being in her own separate category and

06:59everybody else following along behind her kind of thing. She's very much one of a group dynamic

07:06and it's an impressive setup that they've put together.

07:10Yeah, very impressive. I mean, we've obviously got Keeley on the front cover of our next magazine and

07:16you've done a really nice feature inside the magazine on the whole Keeley Hodgkinson,

07:20you know, what made her in the build up to the Games and speaking to the training partners and

07:27everything like that. And it's really fascinating stuff. And as you say, Ewan, her group's not just

07:32about Keeley. There's a big group there. They have a huge group of athletes. And I think one

07:38important thing for me is that it looks like she's regularly humbled in sessions.

07:44You know, she turns up and kind of eats humble pie. I don't think it's any secret that when

07:50she does the longer reps, she gets beaten by Sarah Healy, Georgia Bell, I think even Erin Wallace,

07:58who's probably primarily known as an 800 metre runner as well. I think she beats her on the

08:02longer reps. And Keeley obviously doesn't mind, you know, she knows that it's going to do her good.

08:08And when it matters in races like the Olympic final, that's when it all comes out. So,

08:13so yeah, that whole group dynamic, it's really fascinating. And it seems like they've hit a

08:18perfect blend of both working hard and putting the miles in and the hard, gruelling training,

08:26but also having fun. You know, it seems like they've got a real feel good factor within the

08:31group. You know, everybody seems to enjoy it. And I've heard that one of Trevor Painter's final

08:37words to his athletes before they compete is basically go and have fun kid, he says,

08:43which is a really nice way to send athletes off into battle, I think.

08:48Yeah. And Wendy, it's important to have that side of it because

08:52athletics is, it's a hard sport. It hurts.

08:58Yeah. I mean, I recently had a get together with my old training group. So we're talking a training

09:03group from 40 years ago. And my coach at the time, Neville Taylor, wasn't able to make it out

09:11to Paris. And so we managed to get together 19 of us that were in some way, shape or form involved

09:21in my training and preparation for the Olympics all those years ago. And the fact that 19 people

09:30turned up in the middle of the day to a pub in Crawley to, I guess, celebrate that time.

09:38But I think the important thing really, it wasn't celebrating necessarily my medal. My medal was

09:45one of the things that came out of that training group. It was to relive old times, to talk about

09:50training sessions. And interestingly, one of the things that Neville brought up during that was the

09:56fact that we used to do this circuit at Virginia Waters. And it was, we'd all start at the same

10:02time. We'd all get the same recovery. Except of course, I was running with guys that had run 352,

10:10148, sub four minute milers. And so I was never at the front of the group. And I was used to moan

10:17that I used to get five seconds less recovery than everybody else because Neville would stop the

10:23watch when the first guy came through and then I'd come through four or five seconds later. So

10:30we were all laughing about that. And I'm sure in a few years time, Keeley's group, along with Trevor

10:36and Jenny, will look back at some of the sessions they did this winter in the build up to Paris and

10:43Keeley's outstanding performance there. And I'm sure there'll be some laughs about those sessions

10:47that were harder than others. And like me, I'm sure she probably complains a little bit about

10:53the lack of recovery when she's perhaps not at the front of the group. You know, 40 years ago,

10:57it was a training group. Now, I think there's a lot more that goes on behind the scenes with S&C

11:03coaches and physios, but they're all part of the athlete's journey. And they're all really

11:08important in that athlete's journey. I think it's wonderful that Jenny and Trevor have managed to

11:15create such a great setup. Well, thank you to Wendy and Jason for joining me. We'll be back

11:20next month for more from the Athletics Weekly podcast. Don't forget though, that the September

11:25issue of AWU is out now, available via AthleticsWeekly.com or selected retailers. You can

11:33also keep right up to date with the latest athletics news by heading to AthleticsWeekly.com

11:38and following our AWU social media channels. Finally, please like and subscribe to the AWU

11:44podcast on your usual podcast platform. See you next time.

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Athletics Weekly: We’ll always have Paris – looking back at an unforgettable Olympics

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