Long jumper Chris Tomlinson says he is hoping to get his career back on track as he looks ahead to this summer’s athletics World Championships in Beijing.
The 33-year-old has enjoyed success on the international scene in the past with silver in the World Indoor Championships in 2008, bronze at the European Championships two years later and a sixth-place finish at London 2012.
However, he missed out on the medals at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow – finishing fifth – and couldn’t make the top ten at the European Championships in Zurich.
But Tomlinson says he has made a few changes in his training methods as he enters the latter stages of his career and his hoping to channel the spirit of Jo Pavey as he seeks to rekindle his finest form.
“The main target for the year has to be the World Championships towards the end of the summer. That’s what the season will be geared towards,” he told the Northern Echo.
“Although I’ve been jumping in the 8.20s, the last couple of years haven’t really gone as I would have liked. I haven’t quite been able to kick my performances on as I would have wanted to, so I’ve changed a few things in training this winter and they seem to be having a positive effect.
“I’m a different person now to who I was when I started my career – I’ve got a family and two young kids to think about for a start – and just as Jo Pavey said her changed circumstances gave her a new perspective on athletics, the same is true for me.”
© Sportsbeat 2015