Posted by Christine Ohuruogu, although a house-hold name–after winning gold for England at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and again, at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, while being Great Britain’s only Olympic gold medallist in athletics in Beijing (not to mention a suspension for missing three out of competition drugs tests in 2006)–is a bit of an empty canvass to many.
Not much more is really known about the young woman born in East London in 1984 and who has been named the British Athlete of the Year for the second successive season, and was recently awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II. Yet, she will be spearheading Team GB’s 2012 Olympic track and field challenge, and had the small issue of defending her world title in Berlin, when I caught up with her in Los Angeles earlier this year. Prior to starting the outdoor season, Christine had had a good indoor season over 200m, and as she told me, she was in good spirits, both physically and emotionally.
I had a slight advantage over some of the other assembled journalists. Christine’s coach, Lloyd Cowan, was one of my closest friends. In fact, he’d asked Christine to divert my incisive journalism during our interviewed with a random question about Lloyd and I from the deep, distant past. The pressure had been made worse as he had warned me to ‘watch out!’ As it transpired, I needn’t have worried. Christine was a model interviewee. She asked me her question (which shall remain a secret) and then laughed out loud when she couldn’t remember what Lloyd had to her the ‘right’ answer should be. Other belly laughs during our short interview, and a willingness to not take herself too seriously, except when it matters most, reflected Christine’s very genuine and bubbly personality.
We talk about the forthcoming season. “I have goals,” she told me, suddenly serious again. “But my most important one is…and I know this might sound dumb…is to get the World Championships and try to enjoy myself. It’s been so intense over the last three to four years. I think I have achieved more than I ever thought I would have by this time in my life.” I acknowledge her answer and reflect that very few of Britain’s illustrious track and field world-beaters have achieved as much so young. Do you find it difficult to remain motivated and to keep winning, I ask.
Her reply is equally candidly, “Yes. I don’t want to be doing the same thing in 5–10 years, just chasing medals. I don’t think I could do that.” I suggest, albeit it somewhat negatively that losing a major title might not be such a bad thing. So that perhaps her hunger could return, just in time for 2012. “Do you think so? I’m still really hungry,” she tells me. “With me, it’s all about getting to the championships prepared, and then when I get there, I’ll do what I am best at, racing.”
The 400m runner obviously has a steely determination, despite her charm. She knows how to focus and has a great belief in the training that her coach puts her through. “What Lloyd does is keep things (in training) very simple. Basically, he tells me to go out and run and that’s all there is to it. I try to remember when I go out on the track, that I have done the work, and that there is no reason why I should run badly.”
How do you approach the 400m? In the Olympic final, you were well off the lead round the top bend. Did you think you would win? “The race is not over until you cross the line. I study many races, watch videos and assess different split times, to know that nothing is won or lost until you cross that line. You can get to 200m as fast as you can and think that you are winning, but you’ve still got half of the race to go. You can win or lose in a step.
How do you deal with nerves, I ask. “I do get nervous. But when I get on the track, I recognise that I am there to do a job, and every thing happens for a reason. You’re there because you are supposed to be there, and that gives you comfort, in that everything is planed out.” The focus is seemingly always there, and Christine is a real racer, where does this come from? “I believe that track and field is an extension of myself. I like challenges. They gives me that opportunity to push myself everyday.”
The Olympic champion has won three major senior titles but is criticised for not racing that much on the summer track circuit. “People think I prefer championships to one-off races, but it’s not that I prefer them, it’s just that I have not had a lot of one-off races at a high level. When I started the sport, I was thrown straight into a championships (the European juniors) and that’s where I learned to develop my racing. I don’t know anything else. The Athens Olympics in 2004 was again the same. It was my first major championships as a senior. That’s when I tasted the high-life and realised that that is all you need to train for.”
So why the 400m–the toughest of all the sprints? “We had a club race when I was young, and there was no one to do the 400, and I was told to run, just do it and jog round. And because I was nice and polite,” she laughs, “I just went and did it, and won. So from then on, it was the ‘four.’”
Any set backs? I wanted to know. Christine explained that she suffered from Achilles tendon problems in the past, and then there was that one-year suspension for missing those drugs tests. We don’t go into that, enough has been said elsewhere already. She explained that the injury was the result of being an under-nineteen year old England netballer – an operation had sorted out the problem – although years of playing injured had affected her running style.
Laughing at herself, she explained, “I have this strange lopey running style, where I kinda take my time,” but more seriously and worryingly for her rivals, “I know I can get faster and we’re working on that,” she added with a smile.
And those three missed tests in 2006? Well, the ‘story’ has been told and retold many times in the press. It seems to have been a genuine mistake. My friend, Lloyd, confirms it, and some of the aspersions from certain sections of the media do still seem a little out of order. As an international athlete myself, I know that Christine’s performances are within the boundaries of ‘real’ human capabilities and frailties. She has moved on, but the year out was a very difficult time. Lloyd was central to her continued involvement in the sport. “Lloyd is a good guy, and an excellent coach” Christine explained. “It’s rare that you find someone who is willing to put themselves out for their sport and their athletes, as opposed to making themselves look great.”
Christine Ohuruogu deserves superlatives. Bathed in the golden glow of three major titles, like Berlin world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis, but their is still plenty potential to come from this East London athlete. Blessed with a congenial and down to earth personality, a home victory in 2012 would make her, arguably, Britain’s greatest ever female athlete, and bring her the true recognition that she so rightly deserves.
What advice do you have for people running for fitness? I ask her, finally. “Find a good coach,” she says, “someone you can trust to give you good information, and encourage you. You have to enjoy running and not just see it as something you have to do.”
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