Birchfield Harriers members, who competed for the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Team at Doha, share their thoughts with you.
Tom Parsons
“Doha was my first experience of an Indoor Championships competing for Great Britain. I went there with expectations of jumping a personal best and making the final having recently jumped an indoor best of 2.28m at the Birmingham Grand Prix to secure qualification for the team. Unfortunately, I just missed out on qualification on count-back having cleared 2.26m at the 3rd attempt, finishing 9th, with 8 going through into the final.
I struggled a bit with the waiting around in between jumps and having fewer practice jumps than normal. Also with the start height at 2.18m, it was difficult to find rhythm on my run-up. In addition I had to contend with long jumpers, pole-vaulters and hurdlers warming up directly in front of my run-up mark. At one point, I also managed to save the German high jumper from collision, as I yanked an official back who was about to step into his path.
As I watched the final from the stands I sensed more and more that this was a missed opportunity. With 2.28m getting 4th place and 2.31m good enough for silver, I was disappointed that I had not been able to replicate my training form from the previous week where I had been feeling fantastic and jumping out of my skin.
However, the overall experience will be invaluable, should I get to contest another indoor championships. My coach Fuzz was also frustrated but my indoor season has been decent, with no injury worries, and steady progress towards what should produce further personal bests outdoors. We have cited the European Championships in Barcelona as the main target for the summer, before finishing off the season at the Commonwealth Games, where a medal will definitely be attainable.
The championships saw some awesome performances with Jess Ennis, Jenny Meadows, Lolo Jones and Steve Hooker being the standout stars for me. I would also say the French triple jumper but I missed his final round jump as I went to beat the rush to the bus stop! Doha was an extraordinary place – a culture contrast of strict religious beliefs, liberal spending and lavish lifestyles. Impressive skyscrapers dominate the skyline, and expansion seems set to replicate that of its neighbour Dubai.
I hope to hit loftier heights come summer, so that I can start to rival some of the best jumpers in the world. So it’s back into hard training and a world of pleasurable pain for me, see you outdoors.”
Vikki Hubbard
“Despite going out in the qualifying round with 1.85m, I found my debut at the world indoor championships a valuable experience. My third attempt at 1.89m was a good jump, but I was left feeling frustrated having not cleared it. There was so much going on in the infield at the time of my qualification round and this was nothing like that I had ever experienced before. High jump, long jump and pole vault were all taking place at the same time and we were all in the same area on the track. I found myself waiting around 20 minutes between my first and second jump, which is something I need to get used to, so next time I won’t find it as hard to concentrate on the job in hand.
On reflection of my time in Doha, I realise that this was an amazing opportunity and an important learning curve. To be competing with the best in the world has definitely left me hungry for more and I don’t want to make the same mistake twice.
My coach Graham Ravenscroft and I are extremely happy with how my indoor season went. After jumping a new personal best and having a very successful indoor season, I am back to training hard and looking forward to what the outdoor season of 2010 holds for me.”
Luke Lennon – Ford
“I really enjoyed my time at the world indoor championships in Doha; it was a great experience to be in the same environment as some of the best athletes in the world.
As it is only my second season doing 400m I am very pleased with my progress and I am going to try an use the world indoors as a stepping stone in my career as that is the level that I want to be at.
I feel my recent progression wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for my current coach Roger Walters, for moving me up to the 400m and my late coach Steve Platt for giving me the building base I needed to be able to train for and compete in such a hard event.”
Tags: Birchfield Harriers, Vikki Hubbard, World Indoor Championships