2020 & Hen fun (TT column 18/02/13)

Olympic sport filled the international news headlines last week for a couple of reasons. We had the unfolding of the truly shocking events regarding Oscar Pistorius in South Africa of which I am still struggling to digest and make sense of. Then on a slightly lighter note there was the review of the core sports for the 2020 Olympics.

The minority sport of Modern Pentathlon usually welcomes any press attention, however last week was an exception. Due to the bookies predictions that my sport was the favourite to be axed from the 2020 Olympic programme we had camera crews, journalists and radio stations all keen to speak to us at training. It was a bizarre anti climax as we the athletes were hugely relieved at the announcement of Pentathlon's inclusion in the future Games, yet the press could not disguise their disappointment at being in the wrong place for a "strong" news story. The consequences of this vote were hugely significant for a sport like mine as our funding depends on the potential of Olympic medals, so to hear the great news in the middle of a hard swim session made it all the more appreciated.

Outside of sport it was an action packed week due to the responsibility of organising my friends Hen weekend. Choosing the city of Bath might have been seen as a an easy option but having the inside knowledge was definitely a bonus and the feedback was all refreshingly positive. I did feel slightly guilty though when having to depart early on sunday morning due to my call up for the USA World Cup, but I think I'd filled Saturday sufficiently with a full range of activities including pole dancing, the spa and wine tasting. After such a weekend it is often accepted that you will feel the effect at least the day after, although this is usually due to excess alcohol consumption not achy muscles from a certain activity, and yes that is myself (an athlete) included.