With a target of eight medals at London 2012, double what was won in Beijing and Athens, the Team GB athletics squad have a lot of expectation on their shoulders. Here are some of the faces to look out for during the Games.
Jessica Ennis
With tags like ‘Britain’s golden girl’ and the ‘face of London 2012’ regularly attributed to 26-year-old Jessica Ennis, you can’t help but hope she can handle the pressure. It’s easy to forget that this will be her first Olympic Games. But having broken Denise Lewis’ British record in May, beating Russia’s Tatyana Chernova, who last year took the world title previously held by Ennis, she looks in world-beating form.
She also believes that losing her world titles (she previously held both the indoor and outdoor title) has helped her refocus and she’s back more determined and hungry than ever.
Twitter: @J_Ennis
Tiffany Porter
The British 100m hurdle record holder is gearing up to give world champion Sally Pearson a run for her money in London. She qualified second fastest for the World Championship final in Daegu, but finished just outside the medals after clipping the final hurdle. In Istanbul at the world indoors she won silver. It looks like she could be peaking at just the right time.
Having previously competed for the USA, and a holder of dual citizenship, Porter has found herself at the centre of the ‘Plastic Brit’ debate. But she pushes all that aside to focus on the task in hand – and that’s Olympic gold.
Twitter: @tiffofili
Holly Bleasdale
20-year-old Holly Bleasdale is one of the most promising young talents in the GB squad. She’s the current British national champion and record holder in the pole vault with a jump of 4.87m. She’s the reigning European Under 23 champion and earlier this year picked up bronze at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul.
Many are tipping Bleasdale as the athlete that could topple Russian Yelena Isinbayeva from her global crown. Whether she does that in London remains to be seen but if not the youngster is sure to have several more shots at Olympic gold after this one.
Twitter: @HollyBleasdale
Four years ago the then world champion Christine Ohuruogu became Team GB’s only track and field gold medallist
when she raced to victory in the 400m. Although she has since lost the world title (she was disqualified in the heats in Daegu 2011) and has battled with injury, she is now back fighting fit and posting some very encouraging times.
It will be the 28-year-old’s third Olympic Games, and having grown up in Newham just a mile from the stadium, it is sure to feel like home turf. But she has decided not to visit the stadium until race time – preferring to concentrate on her training away from the glare of the media.
Twitter: @chrissyohuruogu
4 x 400m relay team
GB scooped their biggest medal haul ever at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul earlier this year, and that was in part thanks to the gold medal winning women’s 4 x 400m relay team. Shana Cox, Nicola Sanders, Christine Ohuruogu and Perri Shakes-Drayton set a world-best three minutes 28.76 seconds to beat the United States across the line.
Whether they can do the same in London, only time will tell, but a very strong third leg from Ohuruogu will have boosted the Brit’s confidence for her individual 400m event too. Likewise it’s great to see Shakes-Drayton in top form ahead of her 400m hurdles event.
Twitter: @UKA_athletics
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The Women’s Sports Magazine
