The World Athletics Championships is on its way to London this year with rising anticipation from the public and important sports people. The Richmond Borough getting ready to support the raring British Athletes and other fighting countries to bring the nation together once more since the London Olympics in 2012. One inspirational Britain’s Olympic 400m Bronze Medallist (Sydney Olympics 2000) and now multi games commentator, Katharine Merry, gives her perspective about how big an impact these World Championships will be on the local boroughs in London, and Britain, as a whole.

 

 

Firstly, In the Sydney Olympics 2000, did you ever think that you could beat, Australian, Cathy Freeman with the home crowd supporting her? 

‘Actually yes. Yes, I genuinely did, because it was an interesting Olympics that I had worked very hard towards. It was massive for me and for Cathy, who was the darling of Australia, number one in the world, with loads of support from the crowd backing her. And yet I still felt like I had a chance behind her because, I guess, you never know what will happen in the final. Although I was definitely sure that I would get a medal, I was sure about that.’

 

 

 How many hours of training did you have to complete to achieve your goal of being a Bronze medallist in the 2000 Olympic Games?

‘Well, I started from the age of ten at sprinting, practising at least three hours a day. Obviously, over time that built up, especially when I gained Linford (Christie) as a coach. My training time rising from three times a week to six days a week by the time I was 25-26. Coach Linford would encourage me to fulfil six hours a day of solid training in the gym and track, general activities that would make me peak for the Olympic season.’

 

 

In this World Championships in London 2017 who do you think will be a fighting contender to be a medallist?

‘From a British point of view, there are a few in with a good shout of winning medals. We have many good European championship athletes that, although, people say that they are ‘not worldwide’, they are actually world class anyway. Athletes that I would tip to do well are people like, the great, Asha Phillips, and Athletes from Jamaica and the USA. Britain should get at least 3-4 gold medals with Athletes like Mo Farah, a track champion, who won two golds for Britain in 2012; Mo is probably my biggest medal favourite, along with Gregg Rutherford who is a World Class long jumper and a big contender also.’

 

 

How much of an impact do you think the World Championships is going to have for the British public, will it be as much as 2012 had? 

‘I hope so! London 2012 was amazing to watch and, especially to commentate on, so I know that the World Champs are going to be interesting. Five years ago, the able-bodied Olympics always came first with the World ParaAthletics Championships having a spring board into social media exposure which created an excellent atmosphere. But now it is going to be the other way around, the World ParaAthletics Championships coming before the able bodied, so it will be interesting to see how that impacts the Championships and the public. Hopefully the public will be interested. Young people will remember the London 2012 Olympics fondly so five years later will definitely spark interest. All the biggest global names will be competing, Mo Farah, Usain Bolt etc., so will attract a crowd 100%.’

 

 

How did commentating on the London 2012 Paralympics differ to commentating on the Rio Paralympics in 2016?

‘They were both very different in atmosphere and structure. I was working for Channel Four at the time and there was definitely more interest in Rio (Olympics) than there was for London because of the new and recognisable faces that attracted people to watch. The thing is, you follow the Athletes' stories from back in 2012 over the four years with their gain of experience, which is something that I feel very privileged about doing, so when they reach the next olympics down the line the performances become that much better as they have really got something to prove. Young people who watched 2012 (Olympics) also feel that much more inspired by the recognisable Athletes, feeding of the energy from the energy from the success of the London Olympics, which was a reason that there was even more of a buzz about the games in Rio. It's strange what a difference four years can make.'

 

What are your plans for next year (2018)?

‘2018 is a big year, pretty much as big as any other really. Sport is a non-stop process with always being something new to report. This year it is the World Championships to get the locals excited, the next year it is the Commonwealth games on Australia’s gold coast. As usual, I will travel a lot and keep working to see success.’

 

 

And finally, if you had a chance to Present, Report, or Compete in this year’s World Championships what would you do?

‘Great question, hard to decide though (laughs). I really enjoy hosting actually, I would love to host the World Championships in London with Iwan Thomas if I could. Although, the dilemma is that I also love Commentating in all events, so could I invent a role with both of them involved? To be honest, I just want to get involved at all as it is an honour to take part and interview some real legends of sport. I’m just proud to be any part of it that I can.’

 

 

Harriet Scott