Craig Pickering

Craig is one of Britain’s top sprinters, having transferred success as a youth athlete into medals at senior level, whilst at the same time working hard on a degree at the University of Bath. The 23 year-old is one of our brightest hopes for the 2012 Olympics, and he is just as excited about this as anyone. Road to 2012 caught up with the young sprinter to find out a bit more…

Hi Craig, first of all, a lot of our readers want to know how you manage to juggle your studies with your athletics career?

It is hard juggling my studies with athletics, but I give priority to my training. The way I look at is that I will always have the chance to go to university, but I’ll never have the chance to do a particular race. I’m lucky that I got to split my final year, so the workload has reduced greatly, allowing me more time to train.

Does it sometimes affect your performance, or do you know how to handle it?

I don’t really think it affects my performance too much, as I don’t really care about my studies too much any more! The most frustrating thing is when you know you have a big piece of coursework to hand in a couple of days after a race, or a lecture at a time when you should be training and getting physio.

What got you interested in athletics and primarily sprinting in the first place?

I was always very fast at school, so it was just a natural progression. When you are good at something, you tend to get more interested in it. Within a year of starting training at an athletics club, I was national u15 champion, and three years later I was 3rd at the World u18 championships, so I started getting more serious after that.

Where do you want to be, athletics-wise, when London 2012 comes around?

I would like to be in lane six of the 100m final, having finished in the top two in my semi-final with a new personal best time of 9.90 seconds, a time which I hope to replicate in the final, and maybe sneak a medal!

What is your diet and training schedule?

I train six times a week, three times in the gym, and three times on the track. Each session usually lasts 3-4 hours. I also do other conditioning work to prevent injuries, and plenty of stretching. It’s effectively a full time job!

With my diet, I work really hard at keeping my weight down. I usually eat a fairly small breakfast and lunch, based mainly on carbs, then a protein based dinner, like steak and salad. I also use a lot of supplements like creatine and protein shakes.

Is it sometimes difficult to stick to it?

I love training, so it’s never hard to stick to that. Sometimes it’s hard to push yourself, and make yourself feel pain, because it does really hurt. It’s difficult to run hard and know you are going to feel really ill afterwards.

What are you main aims in athletics as a whole?

My main aim is to be the best I can be. If I train all my life and never get any faster, but I gave it my all, I would like to think I would be happy. But ideally, I want to win medals at championships, and earn plenty of money to support my family and myself. After my career, I would love to go into coaching, and hopefully coach some really good athletes.

In terms of your own performance, what do you want to achieve in the next few years?

I try to set goals and targets for each year period, like so:

2009: Run 10.05-10.10, ranked top 10 in the world.

2010: World Indoors top 3, Run 10.00-10.05, European Outdoor 100m top 3.

2011: European Indoor Champion, Run 9.95-10.00, World Championships top 6.

2012: World Indoor Champion, run 9.90-9.95, Olympic top 3.

That way, each year just requires a small bit of improvement, and it is all within my reach.

Finally, I know you may not be able to elaborate on it too much, but what is feeling on Dwain Chambers‘ comeback to the track, and recent good form?

Obviously, my views on Dwain’s comeback are well published. I think that drug cheats should be banned for life.

Having said that, I respect Dwain as an athlete, and he is very good and professional at what he does, so I don’t begrudge him any success.

Thanks Craig, and good luck at the World Championships from everyone at roadto2012!