Goldie Sayers competes in he javelin at the Beijing Olympics

Goldie Sayers: Why I chose athletics

Goldie Sayers is one of the world’s best javelin throwers, finishing fourth in the final at the Beijing Olympics. But she also excelled as a county standard hockey, netball and tennis player and was an under-12 national champion at table tennis. spikesmag.com couldn’t resist asking the Brit why she chose athletics as the sport for her…

"I had an older brother [John – three years Goldie's senior] and we played loads of ball games. We also tried to knock each other off our bikes which is good for balance. I was always very active, but ball games were really my thing and that made me very spatially aware.

"Unlike most girls I do have a very natural throwing arm. My first memory of throwing stuff was throwing dirt at my brother or something and later it was throwing apples using trees as a target.

"When I was younger though I preferred the team sports by an absolute mile. I think it develops a very different bond between friends when you are playing for each other. Netball and hockey were my main sports. I was always very spatially aware and very good at reading the game, although I didn’t have the silky skills.

"I was quite good at tennis, but I’d never cheat. The opposition would say it was in when it was a mile out. You had parents at the back of the court calling things in and out. I think that aspect of tennis parents being fairly pushy put me off.

"As for table tennis I was a pretty good as an 11-year-old but I’ve hardly played since. To be honest, though, I just wanted to play for my country at a sport from a young age.

"When I was a bit older, aged about 16, I played a lot of school [hockey and netball] but I never played for a club and when I got to the trials I found it quite difficult playing with a lot of people I’d never played with before. One other great thing that I love about athletics is that it is not as subjective as team sports. You’ve either done the standard or you haven’t.

"I got into javelin after my athletics teacher said would I fancy doing javelin for the school. I deliberately kept it [the first javelin] because it does not look anything like a javelin – it’s just a little piece of metal with a little flight on the end. It kind of flew and I actually used to throw it around the garden. We had quite a long thin garden. I used to practice all the time. I eventually had to move out of the garden because I used to get too close to the double-glazing.

"I met my first coach at Peterborough and I just progressed. I tell you why I really enjoyed the sport: because I really enjoyed the training group. I wonder now if they hadn’t been such a good social side [whether I would be involved in the sport]. You want to have fun while you are developing. I was also very lucky to have a very good coach technically, so I progressed.

"I love athletics because it’s so challenging on so many different levels. I’m a bit of a perfectionist and you are never, ever satisfied. There is always more you can do. I came away from Beijing really frustrated and picking holes saying, 'only if my right toe was a bit further forward then it would have gone a little bit further'. It’s just a real challenge to be the best in the world. You can’t blame anyone else and it is always up to you.

"I would advise anyone that they won’t find the same challenge [in any other sport]. In team sports you can produce one piece of skill, play awfully for the rest of the match and win the World Cup, whereas in javelin you can’t really have a bad day. It’s almost like a problem solving exercise, especially in a technical event. You have to be very analytical. It is such good fun.”