This weekend’s Welsh Athletics Championships will double as trials for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October. Saturday and Sunday the Cardiff International Arena will also see the Welsh Junior Under 13 and 15 championships, as well as the Aviva Parallel Success, a high level competition for disabled athletes.
“To date, we have 17 athletes that have qualified this year. I think we’ll have a team of between 10 to 17 athletes, depending on performances,” said Mike Delaney, Team Manager for Welsh Athletics.
Welsh Athletics head coach John Dagata spoke about the women’s chances at the games. “Our women’s team is just as competitive as our men’s, and we want to try to get as many men and women that we can get to the games. That’s our aim: the more, the better. But obviously they’ve got to be in really good form, and they’ve got to make sure that they’re ready for that kind of competition at that time of year.”
Among those to look out for on the road to Delhi are Amanda Moss in the 800m, Cerys Parry and Laura Douglass in the hammer and Philippa Roles in the discus. The first cut-off date for athletes is June 21, with the second selection date on the third weekend in July.
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Moss is a favourite to win her event this weekend, her first competition of the year. She has struggled with injury over the last few years, including a slipped disc in January 2009. Moss fought back through tough training sessions to win the 800m at the Super 8 just five months later.
Her coach and husband Chris Moss is looking forward to seeing her back in top form. “She’s getting in to some good shape now, so she should hopefully win this weekend easily. Then she’ll be more fit for the rest of the season, and she’s got time to recover for Commonwealth Games. Hopefully she’ll keep carrying on progressing and get close to her PB.”
Getting to the games may only be half the battle for athletes. The timing of the games for track and field athletes is expected to be a huge hurdle. Coach John Dagata expressed concerns about getting his athletes to peak so late in the season.
“My biggest concern is making sure people are in top form in October, which is generally very late for the track and field season. I don’t remember going to championships in October. So I’m concerned about how long we’re going to be able to continue this phase of good practice, so it’s just a careful planning procedure. If you do one too much or not enough, it can go wrong.”
“It’s a careful operation of staying healthy, staying fit, staying rested, staying sharp and peaking. The detailed technicality of making that all fit is a very complex problem.”
Fears about “Delhi Belly”, the sickness resulting from contaminated food and water, are also in the back of organizers and athletes’ minds, as well as extreme temperatures. To acclimatise athletes to Delhi’s temperatures the team will spend the last week in September in Dohar, Quatar to adjust. Then it’s on to Delhi on October 2, with the first Welsh athletes competing on October 6.
Caitlin Ritchie, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
