Jenny Meadows: it felt like I was flying

Jenny Meadows won 800m bronze at the World Athletics Championships by clocking a personal best of 1:57.93. The amiable Wigan lass chats to spikesmag.com 36 hours after her success inside Berlin's Olympic Stadium…

How has you life changed since winning a World Championship bronze medal?

JM: It still feels very strange. My really close mates Helen Clitheroe and Emily Freeman still cry every time I see them and Trevor [coach and husband] doesn’t know what to do with himself! I think that when it happens you just tend to deal with it. This [medal] came earlier than I expected – my aim was to get the final in Berlin to give me a decent chance of getting on the podium in 2012. So I was actually hoping to get this medal at the next World Championships.

At what stage of the final did you think you would win a medal?

JM: At 200m to go I thought I had let them go a little bit too much. I just thought 'run, run, run'. I wanted to cross that line feeling tired. With 100m to go I’d got myself into fifth and straight away I could tell I was going to pass the Russian girl, Savinova. I thought I was going to get fourth position.

What were you thinking with 50m to go?

JM: I have this chimp this little alter ego in my head and in the last 100m it was going crazy saying: ‘go, go, go’. With 50m to go I still thought I would finish fourth and with 20m to go I knew I was going to get a medal, I could tell it was going to be bronze.

How did you feel at this point?

JM: I was still full of running. I ran out of track! I felt really fresh and like I was flying. I could have probably pushed on a little sooner.

You once commented that after a 30-minute run in your early days you felt like Paula Radcliffe. I guess you are a different type of animal these days?

JM: Yes, it’s funny because I think my strength has actually become my strength. I come from a 400m background but I rely on my strength now. I’ve improved my mileage and a half-an-hour run isn’t even a run for me these days.

Was it a hard to move up from 400m to 800m?

JM: I had to be realistic. I knew I wasn’t fast enough at 200m to be a 49 second 400m runner – a 400m semi-finalist was always the best I could hope for at major championships. It was a brave decision but when I started athletics I didn’t dream of just being in the relays or making semi-finals, I wanted to win championship medals. To be honest, I always wanted to run under two minutes (for the 800m) and every year I’ve progressed. I can’t believe I’ve got it down to 1:57.

Is it true that you are a big rugby league fan?

JM: My dad has been a massive, massive Rugby League fan ever since I was a child. He had a season ticket for 40 years. He was the one who taught me that Wigan don’t play in red and white but in cherry and white.

You stand at 5ft 1.75ins. Do you ever get bullied during races because of your height?

JM: I used to when I first started in the event because my 400m background meant I was used to my own lane. I started to get really, really stressed because I was being bumped and barged about but now I just think that it’s all part of the race.

When did you start wearing sunglasses to compete?

JM: It started in Osaka (2007 World Championships). I don’t really wear them much other than when I compete but as soon as I start warming up I put them on. I might have a few nerves but when I put them on I know it’s time to get down to business.

Have you ever forgotten them?

JM: I thought I’d lost them between one round and another once, but it’s not like they’ve got superpowers or anything so it wouldn’t matter too much. Some people instantly recognise me with them on. I remember being in Germany and the taxi driver started pointing at me because he knew about my glasses.

Would you ever consider competing in the 1500m?

JM: I would be absolutely terrible. I do have strength now, but, no, when I look at someone like Lisa Dobriskey I think what a phenomenal talent she has. When I watched her during warm weather training she was unbelievable. I could never do that.

*****Read a feature on Jenny Meadows in the next issue of SPIKES Magazine*****

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