Athletes

In the countdown to the London 2012 Olympics few home athletes have attracted as much attention as Stephanie Twell.

The daughter of an Army major she spent much of her early life living in many different locations – including Germany, Northern Ireland and several other places in England and took up running from the age of nine. She was fortunate to settle in Aldershot, close to the home track of Aldershot, Farnham and District club – one of Britain’s top clubs.

Twell showed outstanding endurance from a young age, winning the national under-15 cross country title in 2004 before breaking through into the international ranks at the tender age of just 15 as a member of the British team at the 2005 World Cross Country Championships, finishing 60th.

The following year she progressed to 30th in the same competition but showed an ability to perform at the highest level on the track in the summer of 2006. She ran a new lifetime best of 4:12.76 and also finished eighth –  just three days after her 17th birthday – in the 1500m final at the World Junior Championships in Beijing.

In December she capped a fabulous year by landing her first major international gold medal, the junior race at the European Cross Country Championships in Italy.

Under the long-term coaching of Mick Woods, Twell continued her upwardly mobile career in 2007. She won a silver medal in the 1500m at the European Junior Championships, finished third in the national senior championships in the metric mile and ran a stunning new PB of 4:06.70 in Rieti, Italy to further mark her exciting potential.

She ended the year by making history and becoming the first woman to retain the junior title at the European Cross Country Championships in Toro, Spain.

She began the 2008 campaign in style by finishing fourth against a world-class field of Ethiopian and Kenyan athletes in a top international cross country meeting in Edinburgh but injury hampered her preparations for the outdoor season.

However, despite a limited build up she made history as the first British woman to win the World Junior 1500m title with a devastating final lap. Just five days later she ran a new 1500m lifetime best of 4:05.83 at the Paris Golden League meeting and was selected for the Beijing Olympics. In the Bird’s Nest Stadium she ran an impressive 4:06.68 to finish sixth in her heat, but, unfortunately, just missed out on a place in the final.
 
Twell clinched an unprecedented hat-trick of junior titles at the European Cross Country Championships in Brussels, but she was disappointed to finish a distant 38th at the World Cross Country Championships in Jordan in March – in what was a rare bad run.
 
The teenager admits to living, breathing and dreaming athletics and her disciplined approach and appetite for hard work has led to inevitable comparisons with her compatriot, Paula Radcliffe, the world marathon record holder, from whom she receives regular texts.

Interview

Q Why did you start running?

A I was always quite competitive in my local sports days at school when I was aged about nine. My dad was in the Army and he was always very active and used to go for runs and that encouraged me to join my local club in Aldershot, which I lived about 600m away from.

Q Where do you think you get your sporting talent from your mum or your dad?

A I think from both them. They have both led quite an active life.

Q Who was your athletics inspiration when you were younger?

A Definitely Paula Radcliffe. She has proved that Africans don’t always dominate. Her success has been achieved through hard work and she has had a single-minded attitude. She is so determined and she leaves no stone unturned.

Q People have made comparisons between you and Paula Radcliffe. How does that make you feel?

A It’s obviously a great honour. It is inspiring because if I can achieve anything like what Paula has achieved I am definitely going in the right direction but at the same time I’m taking my own journey and I’ve got to keep working as hard as Paula does.

Q You have a great range of distances as an athlete. Do you have a favourite distance?

A I’m getting fonder and fonder of the track. I love the 1500m, it’s a great event and at the moment I haven’t exhausted my potential there. I love to be out doing long distance runs as well, that’s where my cross country ability comes from. There is nothing more I enjoy than going out of the front door and going out for a 90-minute run.

Q How does running fast make you feel?

A When you hit top speed it’s the most amazing feeling – when it feels so effortless, that’s a great feeling when you know you are in great shape. I can’t describe it.

Q You are a big music fan, what is your favourite pre-race iPod tune?

A At the moment I like a group called The Hours who have a song called Ali in the Jungle, which is quite motivational. The opening lyric says, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish." I never run with music but I carry out my core sessions with music on.

Q You lived in many different places as a youngster – in Germany, in Northern Ireland, Colchester, Aldershot. Did that help your athletics?

A My first exposure of running was in Germany. I lived in lots of different environments, I suppose moving around was good because that is why I ended up in Aldershot and so close to the track. I’m really grateful in that sense. In a way it has been a blessing that we were posted where we were.

Q Why does Britain boast such a fine crop of very good, young female endurance runners?

A Part of it is the relationship we have with each other because everyone is so supportive. We are rivals, but we are also friends and I think that can help encourage each others' performances because we wish each other well we also have more depth and that helps push the event on.

***This interview was set up courtesy of Nike.