Features

Christian Roberts

Young athletes aiming for 2012 success!

Gian Zicch and Christian Roberts from St Ivo School will compete for the Eastern Region in Glasgow between the 7th and 10th of September in the UK Schools Olympics.

Christian and Gian

The event has been designed to get young hopefuls used to the Olympic atmosphere in an attempt to breed success for London 2012.

Gian (Year 12) will compete in both the 100m and 4x100m relay, whilst Christian (Year 11) will just take to the track for the relay. Looking ahead to what will be their biggest event so far; both teenagers are very excited but will take the event in their strides.

The event is in its first year and only includes athletes in the under 17 age band. Those youngsters selected will experience the full professional treatment including diet experts, security and transport, and will be housed in an Olympic village.

Just to get selected was a fantastic achievement, especially considering Christian is at the bottom of the under 17 age band and Gian is only in his first full season in the sport. However they both said they wanted to take away a lot of experience from the event but wouldn't be happy unless they were competitive.

The positive attitudes of both athletes should give them a good chance of maximising their potentials. Christian, with help from his sponsors, trains five days a week and will travel as far as he has to, to keep competing. Gian said he was willing to sacrifice anything to make it to the top.

Christian competes in a relay

Whilst enjoyment still remains the key for both runners, they emphasised their desire to keep focused on the bigger picture of 2012 and GB senior athletics.

When questioned about the drugs issue both sportsmen were clearly saddened by the effect that a minority of athletes have had on the sport they love. Gian said that "it would be good if it was clean but you'll always get cheats, so all you can do is stay clean and hope they get caught out."