Newlywed Lisa Dobriskey will be looking to kick-start another fine season in Edinburgh.
Middle-distance athlete Lisa Dobriskey will be looking to kick-start another medal-winning season when she races in Edinburgh on Saturday. Nicola Bamford caught up with her before she headed for Scotland...
When her name is mentioned to the average sports enthusiast, Lisa Dobriskey tends to be thought of as athletics' nearly girl.
But having recently tied the knot and captured a long-deserved major championships medal, it is fair to say the 26-year-old Loughborough-based athlete is no longer the bridesmaid of the track.
The 1500m specialist recently married fellow athlete Ricky Soos and is set to capitalise on her superb World 1500m silver-medal-winning performance from last summer.
Busy she must be, as the George Gandy-coached runner bounced back from a devastating fourth-place finish in the 2008 Olympic final to construct a stunning 2009 campaign and breakthrough year. Battling through an injury-ravaged winter, Dobriskey slowly regained her fitness and although she raced sparingly in the lead-up to the Worlds, the Kent-born athlete shone in the Berlin final last August.
In a dramatic race shrouded with controversy, she was upgraded to the silver medal after Spanish athlete Natalia Rodriguez was disqualified for blatant pushing.
Dobriskey missed the victory and world title by a mere one-one-hundreth of second. Heart-breaking you may think but it has evidently made the Loughborough University graduate determined to win more silverware.
The self-confessed worrier discussed her Berlin experience: "It was such an anti-climax, as the crowd were booing and I couldn't do a lap of honour - I really wanted to, especially after Beijing. George and I were sat in the dining hall after the race, not knowing whether to be happy - it was so surreal and a flat feeling, as I didn't know what colour medal I'd get."
Accused of making tactical misjudgements in the past, Dobriskey has come on leaps and bounds since placing tenth in the 2007 World Championships semi-final.
Perhaps the so-called 'poor tactics' was mere under-confidence, something the tall runner has certainly rectified, as Dobriskey capped off the year with a blistering 3:59.50 for the 1500m; placing her second on the UK all-time lists behind former double-Olympic champion; Dame Kelly Homes.
"To think how the year started, being all doom and gloom and depressing, it was a brilliant year," said Dobriskey. "It was a stressful winter but I learnt you don't have to train like a bull at a gate all the time. To run under four-minutes and get the silver was all to do with my confidence change; I was no longer scared of underperforming - I was more aggressive and believed I belonged there; I so desperately wanted a medal."
Attention
With medals comes media attention and pressure but Dobriskey "tries really hard to take things in my stride. I worry things will go wrong all the time so I don't get too big for my boots. Sometimes successful athletes can forget the hard work that got them there. George keeps my feet on the ground so life hasn't changed."
Supporting her every step of the way was Dobriskey's coach and support network. On Gandy she explains: "He's fantastic, I trust him so, so much, as he knows me so well - he really relates to me. He's great at getting me to peak at the right time and we've got a really nice group of girls in the training group."
Fortunately, their home training ground now doubles as the national performance centre for endurance; allowing regular access to top indoor alternate training facilities in order to steer clear of the injury plague which has so often blighted this talented runner in the past.
With only the 2006 Commonwealth 1500m title under her belt, 2009 was truly the year which put the runner on the global athletics map. Set for potential home-turf glory at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Dobriskey is evidently set for a bright future.
With a father - commuting from their family home in France - who works in health and safety on the 2012 site, the pressure to perform on the Olympic stage appears all-consuming: "I can't say what will happen come London and potentially not being there frightens me so much. I daren't say what my goal is, as I take nothing for granted, but I'd obviously love gold!"
Feeling fit ahead of Saturday's BUPA Great Edinburgh international cross-country, Dobriskey explained, however, that "it is just a fitness test to get me out of my comfort zone".
On the 6km over-distance race in the Scottish capital she continued: "I'm not quite in the shape I'd like to be in right now so the race will be a shock to the system, but I'm quite looking forward to it. I like to put an emphasis on progress in the winter."
Steady progress she hopes will take her to more sublime performances on the indoor track at the Aviva Birmingham grand-prix and the Glasgow international later this month, followed by a potential tilt at the world indoor 3,000m title in March.
On the season ahead, Dobriskey revealed: "I'll do the world indoors (in Doha) depending on what shape I'm in. George's toying with the idea of more cross-countries, which I'm not thrilled about but I'll do it."
The summer will bring the European Championships in Barcelona and this is the event which provides the biggest aim for the 1500m-specialist: "It will be challenging as I'm no longer the underdog so there'll be big expectations on me. We're undecided whether to do the Commonwealths (in New Delhi) because it's in October and it'll be a long season, but another aim's certainly to go under four-minutes more, to establish myself as a consistent performer and maybe break Kelly's British record (3:57.90)."
Certainly many an athletics nut will put good money on Dobriskey receiving quite a few belated wedding gifts as she returns to competitive action this year, and the new Mrs Soos knows by now that gold is actually far nicer than silver.
