Sayers says odds she'll attend Commonwealth Games 50-50
Goldie Sayers says the chances of her making the Commonwealth Games in Delhi this October are 50-50. Sayers holds the current British record in the javelin. On 20 May, 2007 Sayers became the first British woman to throw over 65 meters since the 1999 when the javelins were redesigned. Sayers has been to two Olympics, Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008. She finished fourth in Beijing and in the process set the British record of 65.75.
Last Monday Sayers was named one of the 100 athletes that England will send to Delhi. She is one of only two javelin throwers to be named to the team, but a hip injury, suffered at the UK Championships in June, could force her to miss the Commonwealth Games. She already missed the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona earlier this summer.
The injury occurred at the European Trials in June. Sayers called it a ‘freak injury’ at the time and vowed to be in shape for the Commonwealth Games.
The 27-year old has seen her share of injuries over the past couple of years. Before the hip injury she had a partial stress fracture of the back. She was able to overcome that injury and compete in the World Championships in Berlin although she did not make the final. Her longest throw in Berlin was 59.98 metres, well off her top throws.
"I would like to go to the Commonwealth Games, but I want to be able to be competitive. I will be making a decision about my participation within the next couple of weeks. At the minute it is 50-50 whether I go or not," said Sayers.
One sign of hope is that shortly before being named to the British team Sayers was able to discard her crutches and do some basic walking drills.
"It was nice to be able to do some walking drills as it is a good sign for my progression back to full fitness," said Sayers. "I have been training quite hard in the pool, on my bike along with doing lots of work with weights and the medicine ball to help keep my fitness levels up.”
She has used her injury time wisely, working on things that she may not normally have had the time to work on such as her throwing action and upper body work. If she is unable to compete in the Commonwealth Games she’ll look to use the winter off months to get back into peak shape.
Another injured British athlete, middle distance runner Sarah Waldron, has confirmed that she will take up an offer of a sports scholarship at the University of New Mexico in the United States.
Waldron has suffered from a number of nagging injuries of late, but is still hopeful that she will be prepared for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. She has also set her sights on the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Her decision to leave Britain comes from a lack of funding.
"It has been very difficult not being on any funding in the UK so it will be nice to have the facilities," she said.
Waldron feels that having the opportunity to work with other top athletes will help improve her performances. She is also looking forward to training in the high New Mexican altitudes. She is not the first person to consider low oxygen areas an asset to her training. Mo Farah, another runner, has spent time in Kenya in order to boost his performance by training in low oxygen areas.
Waldron will be working towards a masters degree but has stated that her academics will take second place to her training.
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