Jason Gardener is relishing the challenge of guiding promising British athletes ahead of London 2012.
Former sprint star has words of wisdom for rising stars of athletics
Jason Gardener is relishing the challenge of guiding promising British youngsters along the path to Olympic glory having started his new role as a performance advisor at UK Athletics.
Alongside former triple jumper Ashia Hansen, the retired sprinter joined the existing team of advisors - Steve Backley, Wendy Sly and Katherine Merry - this past weekend as they started work mentoring 25 up-and-coming athletes at the UKA World Class Talent Induction at Loughborough University.
The programme is designed to provide the potential stars of tomorrow with support and an expert insight into what it takes to succeed on the global stage and the 2004 world indoor 60 metres champion believes the advisors' combined wealth of experience will be "invaluable".
Inspiration
The 33-year-old, who was also part of Great Britain's 4x100m gold medal-winning quartet at the 2004 Athens Olympics, said: "Throughout my career I've always tried to put back as much as I can into sport to try and inspire young athletes such as the ones selected for the programme.
"When I was young I could only see my sporting idols or my role-models on television - they were like the untouchables and the thought of actually meeting them was really quite unrealistic.
"You couldn't talk to them or seek advice from them at all, you couldn't get close to them, but I would have loved that opportunity to speak to people who have been to the top, heard their experiences and hear about the struggles they went through to get to the top.
"I was these kids once upon a time. I remember going to my first Great Britain training camp in Loughborough and I've been through a lot of difficulties whether it be injuries or problems with coaches or worrying about lottery funding, so I feel I've got a lot to give to these youngsters.
"You can't buy experience and that's the fundamental aspect of these camps - that is, first and foremost, what we can offer them and educate them about - it's so invaluable."
Gardener added: "The kids will have specific and concentrated time with us to ask us questions - no matter how silly they may be or how personal they are to the struggle they're going through rather than just trying to grab someone at an event."
The funding of the performance advisor role is geared to preparing these selected youngsters, including Deji Tobias, for the 2009 IAAF World Youth Championships and European Junior Championships.
London 2012 is also a longer-term target and Gardener is confident the combination of experience and youth can produce medals in four years' time.
"These guys are the future. They've all been selected for the next level of funding despite the changes in the funding structure.
"It's been blatantly obvious for a long time now that UK Athletics wants medals and despite a lot of athletes reaching finals in Beijing, that needs to be turned into medals and champions for London 2012 which is just over three years away.
"And we so we have to put our investment in places where we think we can get those returns and there is no doubting the fact that you must invest in youth - here today are our future champions and this is where it all starts."
Hansen, who retired with two world indoor golds and a Commonwealth title among her achievements, is also delighted to be part of the scheme despite admitting she was initially reluctant.
"My involvement came a bit out of the blue really," she said. "I was contacted and almost pushed into it - I suppose they thought I would have something to offer but I'm really glad that they did.
"I guess being an athlete for more than 20 years I'm going to have some advice and some words of wisdom that can hopefully help these guys.
"From what I've seen it really makes me wish that I had something like this when I was their age because I really was almost in isolation as a young athlete.
"There's now so much more guidance in helping them to come through. Not just financially but also in terms of medical help and nutritional advice and so on. And that is so important because I never had that - I had to rely solely on myself and various coaches and almost find my way in the dark as it were.
"And speaking to us gives these guys an insight into what it takes to get to the top and makes it seem a lot more accessible and achievable rather than just a distant dream. I never got to meet any international athletes until I myself was on the international scene."
Grateful
Tobias, Britain's 2008 Young Athlete of the Year, has been tipped for a bright future over 100m and 200m and believes Gardener's influence will be inspirational.
He said: "Speaking to Jason Gardener was fantastic as he's a great role model and his achievements are something I can aspire to. I think the new structure of funding is a good idea because more attention can be concentrated on the athletes.
"It'd be nice to go to 2012 and the draw of the home crowd would be amazing."
Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, a former junior athlete who went through the same programme before working his way into the senior squad, believes his rapid progress proves the system works.
He said: "I was never always the fastest but I was encouraged and nurtured and that's what these guys need to have and all of this is all for their benefit.
"I enjoyed a great deal of success in my youth and I think I owe a lot to my progress through the ranks of the talent programmes and camps."
Norwich Union proudly supports athletes joining the UKA World Class Talent Programme and aims to provide mentoring and coaching support for them through the Norwich Union Performance Advisors. To find out more on the programme, please visit www.joinourteam.com
