Hazel won't let up in race for the top
FORMER Paralympic gold medallist Hazel Robson has vowed to spend every waking moment between now and London 2012 breathing down the neck of defending Games champion and nemesis Wang Fang.
The Jarrow and Hebburn AC athlete looked set to dominate the Paralympic sprinting scene after claiming 100m gold in Sydney 10 years ago – only for the emergence of Fang to push her down the pecking order.
Robson, 30, who now lives in Houghton-le-Spring, doubled her medal haul at the Athens Games but had to settle for two silvers as the Chinese athlete pipped her to both the 100m and 200m crowns.
But despite failing to rain on Fang's homecoming parade in Beijing two years ago, settling for double bronze in the Bird's Nest, Robson is plotting to stay hot on her heels as she pursues home glory.
"There are things I can try and do on the track and in training to improve, and I will be doing those things, but the big thing I have to do is just to follow her and wait for a chance," said Robson, who was speaking at an Aviva-funded warm-weather training camp in Italy.
"She is very quick, but if I can start as well as she does in races, or better, then I can still beat her, I believe.
"I am building up to London 2012 all the time, I have the Paralympic World Cup this year, and the World Championships next year, but the aim for me is still London 2012.
"I am still learning all the time though, and that will be the same right up to the next Paralympics because sprinting is a sport that is always changing."
Robson travelled to the Great Britain training camp in Formia along with her club coach Matthew Wood a few weeks ago.
And Robson, who won 200m World Championship bronze in 2006, believes she and her coach will benefit hugely from training alongside the likes of world triple jump champion Phillips Idowu.
"I think the camp has been really good for my coach as well because he has seen how other people do things up close, and I am sure that will only help," added Robson.
"I am sure, like me, he is learning all the time, and he was learning from some of the best in Italy, and I am sure we will use some of what he has discovered this year.
"I've been training really hard and it has been very intense so hopefully I will see the benefits of all that when I start competing.
"I have been doing this sport for a long time now, but I feel I am in great shape and more than capable of winning medals this year and over the next few years."
* Hazel is a member of the Aviva GB & NI Team and is warm-weather training in Italy ahead of the outdoor season. Find out more at aviva.co.uk/athletics.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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