At the age of seven, when Jenny Meadows was still an aspiring runner, she turned to her coach and declared that she wanted to compete at an Olympic Games.
[quote:I dream of medals but just making that Olympic final would be amazing:Jenny Meadows:left]
As with any youngster grandiose claims can often be taken with a pinch of salt but, for Meadows, there was nothing but support from those charged with extracting every ounce of potential from the would-be Olympian.
It’s been eight years since the now-veteran 800m runner ticked that goal off her bucket list in Beijing but that appearance is far-from the full picture of her storied career.
Now 34 Meadows plans to hang up her spikes after Rio 2016 and, if she has it her way, she will bow out following the biggest race of her career.
“I dream of medals but just making that Olympic final would be amazing,” she said. “You hear the iconic voices on the TV over the years and it really makes the hairs on your arms stand up.
“So I am desperate to be in that Olympic final and every training session between now and then is important.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself a lot of the time but I do think I am ready to hang up my spikes at the end of the season.
“I started off when I was seven and I’ll be 35 this year so it’s been a long career and a fruitful career which is great but I just want to bow out at the top.
“When I was younger said I wanted to go to the Olympics but once you get older you realise the significance a little bit.
“When you’re young you dream of medals you just think about the process but now I realise that representing Great Britain is an amazing experience in itself."
A leading figure on the indoor scene, 2015 proved to be a difficult one for Meadows as she struggled with illness before the final of the European Indoor Championships in Prague.
That denied her the chance at a second indoor title to add to the gold she won in Paris back in 2011 but this year will see her go for gold at the World Indoor Championships in Portland.
“I have definitely got my motivation back now because I struggled quite a lot in 2015 but I’ve got my passion back,” she added.
“So I just want to be fit and healthy and if I can win that world indoor title then that would be amazing and give me a springboard and belief for the outdoors.”
Whatever happens in Rio the career of the Wigan runner is one that has included medals at world and European level and has seen her run the fourth-fastest 800m time of any British woman.
The problems for athletes though sometimes arise after the glory of competition has faded away but Meadows says she is looking forward to the uncertainty of the future and is excited at not knowing what September has in store. “Since the age of seven I have always had a structure and I know what I am doing,” said Meadows.
“I have got the date of Rio in my head but as far as September 2016 comes I am not quite sure what will happen.
“But that’s exciting and I am just trying to embrace it and a lot of the training sessions I am thinking ‘this might be the last time I do this session so I better put my all into it’.”
Sportsbeat 2016