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it has been one of the toughest to feeling slightly exhausted when she has “It is nice to be among people in Swansea again.
journeys imaginable to Beijing the chance to have a small breather from the It is about enjoyment this year and it’s made a
for Wales’ record-breaking discus relentless daily effort. huge difference.
thrower philippa roles.
“My shifts vary. It is either a 5am start, so I ”...everything was perfect and i
But all the sacrifices she has made on her daily have to get up at 3.30am, or anything up to
life have paid off in a handsome way now that 9am which is worse because trying to get to could not have thrown further
she is on the plane to China. Victoria Station at that time is a nightmare,”
she said. if i had tried”
While some athletes in the higher profile
events, like the sprints, are able to cash in on “People are mad in rush hour. They want to sit “I’ve done the A standard twice now this year
money available to them in sponsorship or with you and sneeze all over you - so I’d rather and the B standard about ten times but I need
endorsements to prepare without having to get up at half-past three. to throw further for me, really, because I know
hold down a job, Roles is up before the crack that 65 metres would probably get me a place
of dawn to start another day circulating around “I’m permanent earlys at the moment which in the top five of the world.
Britan’s capital city. means I can get the training done in the
evening. “That takes it to another level and I’m capable
Roles is a train driver for Southern Railways, of doing it this year because I’ve trained my
taking commuters into London from the “I’m totally professional about my job. I butt off. I’m really strong and it’s just believing
suburbs - and she loves every second of it. get rest on the weekends when I have time in it now.”
off but, by the end of the week, I’m totally
shattered. Reaching that 65m mark would need a big
improvement as Roles’ personal best at the
“I know that’s my job, it pays the bills and that’s moment is 62.80m which she threw in 2003.
my sponsorship. That comes first.
“I haven’t done a PB for five years but I’m in
“They (Southern Railways) have been fantastic better shape now than I was then. On that day,
this year. They have changed my rest days everything was perfect and I could not have
“people are mad in rush hour. around so I can go to all my competitions and thrown further if I had tried,” she said.
they have accommodated me on the roster.
They want to sit with you and “But my 61m in the Welsh Championships
“They have also said I can have a month’s paid in Swansea last month was rubbish - I nearly
sneeze all over you” leave to go to the Olympics which is fantastic. walked out on it - but I’m glad I didn’t!”
They have given me five extra days leave just to
Her employers have recognised her ambition prepare and I’ll be able to do all sorts of stuff. So, when she can concentrate totally on her
to represent Britain in the Olympics and Olympic dream in August - and have a few lay-
have allowed Roles to go on the early shift “The next couple of weeks are going to be ins to recover properly - the sky is the limit.
permanently so she can fit her training into the really intense so I have to book off days in the
rest of the day. week and they have been so good they have “Because I would be training out there and
said ‘Well, someone can cover that on a rest not working, there is so much stuff I could do,
That means getting up at 3.30am to drive the day’. I think I could put a couple of metres on my
5am service. Then, after work, it is a quick throws,” she admitted.
snooze for a few hours, a training session and, “I was a bit dubious at the start because I
somewhere in the evening, she is back to the thought they might not support me, but they “It is like the Commonwealth Games (2006)
Land of Nod and another couple of snatched have been absolutely brilliant and I’ve been when I had it perfect in the holding camp, but
hours. really lucky.” then I got injured and it fell to bits. If I can get
it like that again, I will be fine.”
It is paying off, though, as she has thrown the And she admitted that ‘coming back to basics’
Olympic Games ‘A’ qualifying standard of 61 by returning to Swansea Harriers from Sale It will be back to some sensible hours behind
metres not once but twice this year. Harriers has done her throwing the world of the driver controls when the Olympics are
good. over but she said it would be strange when she
Roles is top of the UK rankings for her event is out there in the Far East.
and has won six of the 10 competitions she has Missing Osaka was a big blow but Roles added,
entered this year. “This sort of thing used to really bug me and I Roles laughed: “It will be great. I’ll have too
used to get depressed. When that happened, much time on my hands. I won’t know what
Her determination is also driven by the failure my throwing used to go down so I thought I to do! I’ll have to find a book to read or get a
to make the British team for last year’s World was doing it for the wrong reasons. I should be part-time job while I’m out there!”
Championships in Osaka but she does admit doing it because I enjoy it.
sportingwales
issue3twothousand&eight
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