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| Human Interest | |
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Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Manchester, ENG |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Club / Team | Sale Harriers: Manchester, ENG |
General Interest | |
| Injuries | He missed out on the 2010 European Championships due to injury. (runnerstribe.com, 14 Aug 2010) |
| Other sports | He took a break from athletics after missing out on the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, turning his attention to Ironman Triathlon training. (menmedia.co.uk, 04 Jul 2012) |
| Hero / Idol | Lance Armstrong. (England CWG Handbook Guide, 2010) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | David Stokes, Charles Van Commenee [national] |
| Training Regime | He starts training at 4:30 in the morning. |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Teacher |
| Languages | English |
General Interest | |
| Other information | HIS STANCE AGAINST UK ATHLETICS The terms of the UK Sport funding agreement with UK Athletics [between 2005 and 2009], which covered the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, required that the number of British finalists be increased as a percentage of the whole team. Despite winning the 2008 Olympic trials and achieving the minimum qualifying standards, a number of British athletes were prevented from competing. The cause of this is based on the lack of funding for all the sports that underperformed at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and that have underperformed overall - as steeplechase has been viewed as an "up and down event". (youtube.com, 22 Jun 2009; 18 Jul 2006) At the 2009 European Cup, Stokes spoke on behalf of all the athletes that were deemed unlikely to win a medal and therefore missed out on the Games: "It's been an honour to run for my country today ... I'm in no way representing UK Athletics or their policy in running for my country. A lot of guys were omitted from the Olympic Games [Beijing 2008] through unfortunate circumstances ... we got a bit disheartened with the sport, and a lot of people have left, certainly [sic] in the steeplechase event, hence why I've been called up today." (youtube.com, 22 Jun 2009) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Family | Son Harrison and daughter Leah. |