![]() ![]() “The body gets used to it when you are expanding and running at that sort of speed. “For some it has because it allowed them to train harder and be more focused because there is nothing else in their life but for others they need to race and I think with the sprinters it is really important to race. With the Games delayed by 12 months due to the coronavirus pandemic and various events rescheduled as a result, Gunnell admitted: “Covid hasn’t helped. Muscle injuries have hampered Great Britain’s athletics medal chances at Tokyo 2020 with thigh and calf problems respectively ending the hopes of Adam Gemili and Katarina Johnson-Thompson in recent days. “That is where the trust goes and that belief in what they are doing because you want the right answer and it was obviously not what Dina wanted to hear but she knew John knew what the right answer was and you go with it.” Gunnell added: “Sometimes you are too close to it and can’t make a decision because you are too in it so you need that experience. One coach who inadvertently stepped into the spotlight at the Tokyo Games was John Blackie, who had to make the tough judgement call that Great Britain sprint queen Dina Asher-Smith was not able to compete in the 200 metres last week because she was not far enough into her recovery from a hamstring injury first sustained in June.Ī hamstring injury wrecked the chances of the Londoner making history in the 100 and 200m events but the decision to withdraw from the 200m could see her still win a medal in Tokyo with the Team GB 4x100m relay team through to Friday’s final. Even though Andy is in the background, he is very much a part of it.” You don’t question it, you go with it and it gives you an enormous amount of confidence. “You can see Laura has complete belief and understanding in what Andy is doing. That is when you want the experience you have had in the past to draw on to get yourself in that right state. “I know there is a lot of expectation for Laura, not just from us but what she puts on herself and that is when it gets intense. ![]() This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. “You learn so much on the races that don’t quite work out or where you are close. Since Muir left Rio without a medal, the Inverness runner has claimed silver at the 2018 World Indoor Championships, won the European Championships in the same year and earned gold in the European Indoor Championships two years ago under the tutelage of coach Andy Young. ![]() Yet Gunnell, who bounced back from a testing first Games to become the first and only British athlete to win Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth titles, believes the 28-year-old will use that experience in the Japanese capital. Muir suffered disappointment five years ago when she faded with 200 metres of the 1500m final left to drop from third to seventh in Brazil. They will have a race plan worked out and let’s see if it is enough for a medal.” “She is in the shape of her life, you can see that by those rounds and my husband (Jonathan Bigg, who coaches Elliot Giles) said the shape that she was in out there was brilliant so she will give it absolutely everything. “It is tough and there are some girls in there who are really good like Hassan but you know what she has had so many experiences coming into this where she would have learnt so much.
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