Vicki Barr hopes to follow Olympic heroes
Jul 26 2010 by David Jordan, The Journal
VICKI BARR has set her sights on emulating Olympic legends Linford Christie and Sally Gunnell when she lines up at the European Championships this week.
The 28-year-old is part of the 400m relay squad in Barcelona, at the same stadium as the 1992 Olympic Games.
Christie – who is a member of the Aviva GB & NI Team’s coaching set-up – and Gunnell’s gold-medal winning performances in the 100m and 400m hurdles respectively remain two of the most iconic images of British athletics.
And Barr, who helped GB to a fourth-place finish at last year’s World Championships, revealed following in the footsteps of the former Olympic stars will be a dream come true.
“They showed a video at the team meeting of 1992 and that was quite inspirational – it was just what we needed and Linford’s talk was really good,” said Barr, who has been selected for the Aviva GB & NI Team and is at an Aviva-funded pre-event preparation camp in Portugal.
“I remember watching it when I was ten and seeing Sally Gunnell win and Linford and they are people I have grown up watching, so it will be great to be on that track.
“I think we are a strong team this year. Lee (McConnell) is running well, Nicola (Sanders) is coming back in to shape Perri (Shakes-Drayton) ran an amazing race at the European Team Championships and we have other people to bring in, so we feel lucky.
“I think the Russians are going to be really tough because they have all been running 50/51 but you just have to try and get in amongst them and I think we can get at least silver. If we get amongst them and challenge the Russians then we won’t got far wrong; I think we can do that.”
Barr has endured a frustrating season to date with an Achilles problem effectively ending her hopes of an individual 400m berth in Barcelona.
The Gateshead-born athlete did compete at the Aviva UK Championships and European Trials but her fourth-placed finish wasn’t enough to convince head coach Charles van Commenee she was ready for her solo international debut.
And while Barr admits to being frustrated at missing out she vowed to make the most of her relay opportunity.
“The Europeans were always the big aim for me and I was hoping for an individual spot but my preparations leading up to it weren’t great because I have suffered from Achilles problems,” she added. “It is nice to be with the team and to come together and it is also a good chance for me to train with the other 400m girls, which is working out quite well.
“I’ve been doing a lot of training with my room-mate Lee McConnell and that has been quite good for me to see where I am at, which is good.
“When I am back home I train with Montell Douglas and Marilyn Okoro so I have the best of both worlds really in that I have both speed and endurance, so that works out quite well.
“I’ve just been doing my preparation sessions with Lee to sharpen myself up and I am also doing my tester sessions with her to see where I am at.”
:: AVIVA'S support, both at home and abroad, is helping the team prepare to compete at their best. Watch the Aviva GB & NI Team live in action at the Aviva London Grand Prix. For more details visit www.aviva.co.uk/athletics
