Muscle Fitness Muscle & Fitness UK - April 2018 | Page 109

A TOUG H N U T TO C R AC K
ounce of me knew that that is what
was going to happen”.
Half of this was admittedly down to
her inner fantasist and romanticist,
but the other half was undoubtedly
down to the level of control she had
over her training which had given
Louise the confidence of knowing that
everything was falling in to place as
per the plan she had created...the plan
which was created to culminate in a
gold medal winning performance on
one specific day.
Physically everything was
proverbially on track, but the true
strength was in Louise’s mind. “A
Canadian girl was supposed to win the
gold medal” she explained, but Louise
speaks with such certainty when she
describes seeing the Canadian making
rookie mistakes in her approach to the
event. “I smiled to myself and thought
you (Canadian girl) aren’t ready for
today, you aren’t prepared or focussed
and have just spent uneccessary time
arguing with stadium staff about what
you can and cannot have in your bag”.
Jessica Zelinka jumped 37cm less
than Louise in the Long Jump that
day, then threw 2m 74cm less in the
Javelin and ran 5.07 seconds slower in
the 800m. Her name will forever be
etched on the silver medal as a result.
With the 2018 Commonwealth
Games approaching the former
champion has backed fellow Brit and
former room-mate Katarina Johnson-
Thompson to do well. “I must stress
that this girl has more talent than
myself and Jessica Ennis-Hill put
together, she is training in France with
my former Heptathlon coach and I
have full faith that this is a young lady
who can score over 7000 points and
win major medals”.
Just under two years after her
triumph and Hazel would be selected
to participate in the biggest event an
athlete can wish for - a once in a
lifetime home Olympics.
The only way to describe stepping
on to the track of the London Olympic
Stadium was “electric” says Louise
emotionally. “The energy that was
filling that place that night was
intangible. Standing on the start of the
200m and listening to the stadium go
crazy when they called out my name
and seeing myself on the big screen
with my GB vest on was a momentous
occasion”.
She described theatrically how the
energy from the crowd could literally
carry her around the track. “Normally
the last 50m of a 200m race, or the
last 200m of an 800m race is horrible.
But at London 2012 you could just feel
the energy from the crowd transferring
to you...and from the moment each
event was over you are just wishing
that you could have that moment
back”.
The extrovert in Hazel relished the
limelight and attention and the hype
of being a competitor at a home
Olympics but she spared a thought for
anyone competing who wasn’t quite
as confident.
The lasting lesson learned from her
Athletics career is that she “always
deserves to be in the room”. Having
competed at the top for so long, she
explains that it can sometimes be
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