Goldie Sayers

Goldie Sayers is confident she is back to full fitness and on target for the London Olympics after a recent freak injury.

Speaking at the launch of the announcement of locations for the Olympic Torch Relay at Trinity College, the Cambridge javelin thrower admitted she had undergone a minor knee operation six weeks ago following an injury suffered in training in Los Angeles.

She said: "I was just doing calf raises off a box that looked stable, but it wasn’t and after three or four reps I had 90kg come down and it tore my meniscus.

"I had the operation within 48 hours and after a day off, I was back training again – there’s a lot you can do with one leg.

"I was weight-bearing straight away and was running again within a few weeks, so I was able to carry on doing all the other training.

"Having been through it all with my hip (another freak injury suffered on the way to victory at last year’s UK Championships), this was quite easy to deal with in comparison, but it’s just the life of an athlete.

"I didn’t think I was accident-prone before this and the hip, and hopefully we won’t have any more of these.

"But if something happens again in the next 12 months, I know the mental state you have to be in to get over injuries and I’m quite experienced in rehabilitation."

Sayers said she is fully fit to face the challenge of competing for Great Britain at the European Team Championships in Stockholm next month.

She said: "That’s going to be my first or second competition this year and I’m looking forward to it, with the world championships in Korea coming after that in September.

"That will be a big stepping stone for me because Beijing doesn’t seem like five minutes ago and London is going to come around very quickly.

"If you look at it that it’s 32 hours a week training for just one day, it’s quite scary, so you just give your best every day and enjoy the training."

source: cambridge-news.co.uk