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My writing journal
I'm constantly thinking "I wish I wrote more!" So, here I am writing more! |
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My life is always so busy and I always have so many ideas floating around my head that I can go months at a time without doing any writing. Once I realise I haven't written anything down for however long, I instantly regret it. I'd love to put more time aside for my writing - this is my attempt |
| London 2012 Paralympic Games - 50 days to go! |
| Sometimes it is hard to believe that the Paralympic Games started life as a archery demonstration involving just 16 people. In fact, on 29th July, just 2 days after the Olympic Games commence, we will be able to celebrate the 64th anniversary of that, inauspicious, archery demonstration held at Stoke Mandeville hospital. Now, 64 years later, we are rapidly heading towards the second biggest sporting event on the planet! Indeed, the Paralympic Games have always been a “big deal” for all athletes involved; they are the ultimate goal, the chance to shine and a chance for global glory. However, now, finally, realisation is dawning on the rest of the world; the Paralympic Games are coming and they are a “big deal”. Exactly four years ago, I was preparing for my second Paralympic games in Beijing. It wasn’t the perfect run up to a games; even though I had qualified and secured my place way back in April, I was injured so I needed to prove my ability once more. You see, athletes at a Paralympic Games are of only the highest calibre. All athletes, whether they accept it or not, are competing for a shot at those coveted gold me. Therefore, because I was injured, I had to do another time-trial to make sure I was definitely up to scratch. Thankfully, I was and I well and truly secured my seat on the flight to Beijing. Beijing 2008 was spectacular. The organising committee went all out to ensure that it would be a Games to remember; the greatest games to date, and it was! I remember thinking, in quite harsh terms, about how London 2012 would fair in comparison to the amazing scenes unfolding before my eyes. I convinced myself that there was no way Britain could equal China in putting on such an incredible show. Four years later, I stand corrected. Britain do not need to equal China; we do not need to have sparkly lights in places you would not expect to see sparkly lights. No, all we need to do is go one step further in proving the worth and high standards of Paralympic sport. If the Beijing Paralympics 2008 was able to alter attitudes towards disabled people in China, which I believe it did, London 2012 can go one step further. If every person in Britain watches or hears about even just one (hopefully more) aspect of the Paralympic Games, and is inspired by that snippet, London 2012 will have done its job and will be the greatest games ever! I hope, in 50 days time, some lives are changed - and I don’t just mean those of the athletes! |
| The life of an athlete: Doping control |
The life of an athlete, from the outside, may seem glamorous at times. But I assure you, most of the time, it is not – and I am not just talking about the dodgy sports gear that needs to be worn. One of the least glamorous parts of an athlete’s job is doping control! The inspiration for this particular post comes from me finding approximately 30 doping control forms, safely filed away in a filing cabinet “just in case”. Every World Class athlete has been there (if not, your time will come) and, I assure you, every World Class athlete hates if. I don’t know how to talk about this without telling you that doping control involves pee and a pot (or two… or maybe three if you’re really unlucky! Ahem). They can come for you, and your pee, at any time! Pretty much all athletes have to complete online forms to tell the lovely “doping control officers” where they’ll be at any given time and when is a “good” time to turn up. Then during competitions they are there, lurking in little rooms, deciding who to target next! Full credit to them, its not a job I’d choose, that’s for sure. All athletes have their own doping control stories. Whether it be that they were unable to ‘go’ despite drinking 2 litres of water; or feeling shattered after a really hard training session looking forward to bed, only to see a woman with a UK anti-doping badge wandering towards you; or being woken up at 6am on your day off by a knock on the door and a woman saying ‘can I see some ID please? In fact, these are some of my own stories. There are hundreds out there. As we head closer towards London 2012, doping control officers will be going into over drive! Before Beijing 2008, I was tested a grand total of 4 times in a single eight day period – twice at home and twice in competition. By the 4th visit I was not impressed! But, if it cleans up sport, I’m all for it! I just thought I’d tell you the story of my worst ever doping control experience. Its funny now, but spare a thought for all our “glamorous” athletes that have to go through this kind of thing on a regular basis…. Durban, 2010: I’d just won the World Championship gold by 4 seconds! I was so happy. Well, I was, until a woman with a clipboard approached me, “congratulations! Sorry but you’ve been selected for anti-doping”. OK, I thought, I really could do with the loo, in and out quick, job done, lets go! However, I was also due to swim in the relay later in the programme. My competition coach was also head coach for our relay team, and he reckoned I didn’t have time to go straight away: after all, I needed to swim down, go to my medal ceremony and then prepare for the relay which was only an hour away! Fine, I’ll wait. An hour and a half passed: we were still waiting to race! We were the very last race on so there must have been a hold up earlier on in the evening. Bear in mind, I’m drinking the whole time to keep hydrated. In we went, raced a brilliant relay, winning gold in the process. Two time World Champion, in one night, how awesome is that? Unfortunately, all I could think was “I really need the loo!” Now, not only were we the last race of the evening, but we were the last race of the entire meet. So, we went to our medal ceremony and I thought I could head straight to doping control. Wrong! Team photo time! If you ever see any of the 100 versions of that team photo, you’ll be able to note my unease, shall we say! I finally reported to doping control at 10pm. You’d be wrong in thinking my story ended there, oh no. As all the countries left the pool and the stewards began their clear up, I grabbed my chosen pot and ran to get the job done. Quickest time ever, I thought. However, in order for the lab to be able to do their testing properly, the doping control officer has to check the “quality” of the sample. If the sample isn’t up to scratch it has to be done again. You see, if you hold on long enough, and drink more than enough, you will just pee water! 11:45pm and three pots later, I stood outside with the team nurse trying to find away back to the hotel! So, ladies and gentlemen, what have we learnt today? We have learnt that behind each and every gold medal in London this summer there will be celebration, there will be cheers and there will be media. But, there will also be a woman with a clipboard waiting patiently to say: “congratulations! Sorry but you’ve been selected for anti-doping”! |
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