Sky Academy Sports Scholarships: Olivia Breen ready for sprint return
By Sam Drury
Last Updated: 19/08/14 4:38pm
Olivia Breen is aiming to convert positive performances in training into a medal at the IPC European Championships in Swansea this week.
The Sky Academy Sports Scholar competed in the long jump for Wales at the Commonwealth Games in July and did so again for Great Britain in the European Championships on Tuesday, finishing fourth on both occasions.
I’ve taken a big chunk off my time in the 100m and I’m really happy with how things are going
Olivia Breen
However, she is now looking for a repeat of her 2012 success in the T38 100m, when she won the European bronze medal.
Sprinting is Breen’s primary focus and as such she was happy with her fourth place finish in Glasgow despite being so close to snatching the final podium place.
“I was really happy with how it went,” she told Sky Sports. “I was hoping for top five because I only started jumping in January really, so it was a big competition for me to get experience in front of a big crowd – that was my first time doing long jump in front of a big crowd.
“It was a really good experience and I was happy to come fourth, but I was obviously frustrated because I was only 4cm from bronze. That was quite annoying.”
Test
After making a return to sprinting at the Anniversary Games shortly before the Commonwealths, Breen is eager to test herself at a major championships again, with the prospect of a relay also exciting the Paralympic medalist.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back to the sprints. I really missed that at the Commonwealths because the sprints are my main event so switching to the long jump was a big thing,” she explained.
“We have a relay as well, which will be good though because we haven’t been able to do that since 2012. The team has changed a little bit, there is one new girl, but that’ll be really exciting.”
Breen’s enthusiasm is helped by the continual progress she is making in training, something that has been shown by her recording personal bests in both the long jump and the 100m already this season.
As a result, Breen is understandably starting to look towards Rio and the Paralympic Games in 2016, knowing that further improvements could mean she heads to Brazil with a great chance of winning a medal.
“I’m really happy, I’ve taken a big chunk off my time in the 100m and I’m really happy with how things are going,” she added. “My coaches have been really supportive of me. I couldn’t really be in a better place now leading up to Rio.
“I just hope I can keep getting better and better. I’ve not had any injuries, I’ve been quite lucky, so I’m just excited and I’m hoping to get better and stronger too.”
