Throwing for gold

A TEENAGER from Wargrave who holds the best decathlon score in the world for under-20s will be going for gold at the European Athletics Championships next week.

Sammy Ball, 18, is flying to Jerusalem with the British Athletics Team today (Friday).

In May he set a new national record for the decathlon at under-20 level at the English championships in Manchester and since then has been training to improve his performance.

Sammy said: “I was in good shape anyway so it has been more about just keeping in top fitness and not injuring myself. I haven’t been overworking myself or pushing my body too hard.

“I’ve been doing quite a bit of technical work and working on my weakest events especially.

“In the national championships, where I qualified for the European championships, I had a very strong first day and then my second day was a lot weaker and I lost a few points.

“The three main events that were quite weak were discus, javelin and the pole vault. I’ve been working quite hard and seeing a lot of improvements, so while my stronger events may stay the same, the second day should definitely see a lot of improvements and I’ll get more points.”

Sammy will take part in 10 events – the 100m sprint, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 400m on the first day and the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500m on the second.

He has also been preparing for the competition by adapting his sleep patterns and moving his training time forward by a couple of hours as Jerusalem is two hours ahead of UK time.

The events will also be held earlier in the morning and later in the afternoon to avoid the midday heat, which is estimated to be between 29 and 32C.

Sammy doesn’t have a favourite event. He said: “It used to be long jump but I don’t particularly have a standout event anymore. I enjoy all the throws. Discus, shot put and javelin are quite chill and safe events for me.

“You’re not putting your body under too much pressure, so unlike the 400m or a 1,500m, when you’re pushing yourself to the max, you can sort of have some time to think and just relax while throwing. It’s quite satisfying as well when you release and it’s a good throw and you see it flying in the air.”

Sammy finds the pole vault the most difficult event as it requires a lot of technical skill and it is the one most affected by weather conditions.

He said: “It does mainly come down to speed and confidence as well on the run-up.

“This is quite a weird event because you’re running with this massive stick and flinging yourself 4m in the air.

“It’s about controlling the pole — you can’t let the pole control you when you plant it because that’s when things go wrong. You can like fling backwards and stuff. You just need to have good control, confidence and basic technique.

“Most athletes end up getting a block with pole vault at some point. I definitely have. There have been times in training when I just can’t get it.

“There have been a few sessions where I’ve been taking off and just go nowhere, falling back on the track. You have to build up your confidence from these failiures. It gets you more prepared for the event and get used to the fact that things can wrong.”

Last year, Sammy suffered a setback when he pulled a hamstring during the hurdles in the under-20 world championships in Colombia, forcing him to pull out of the competition.

He said: “I had a long winter working on strengthening my body and rehabilitating, that’s the key.

“I’m more robust now so I can work on my technical elements in training without worrying about too much about getting injured again. It definitely is good, physically and mentally, knowing you can work harder at events.”

His mother, Sarah, said that Sammy’s mental attitude and determination helped him.

She said: “Even when he was injured he never gave up. He had to go back and start again from scratch.

“He went to a physio and had reams of boring exercises to do but he did it. His body is much better balanced now.

“He has been building his confidence back too. The mental attitude is just as important as the physical, to pick yourself up and start over again.

“He seems to have the right mindset. He looks disappointed for 10 minutes and then he resets himself and focuses on the next event.”

Mrs Ball, who runs the Wargrave Wild Bird Rescue from their home in Victoria Road and her husband, Lincoln, a retired firefighter, are travelling to Jerusalem to support their son.

A love of athletics runs in the family: Mrs Ball’s parents met at Windsor and Eton Athletics club in the Sixties and the couple themselves met at Reading Athletics Club in 1991. “Lincoln said he liked my hurdling technique,” said Mrs Ball.

Sammy now represents the club.

The couple married in 1996 and had a daughter Elena, who was born in 2002 and is now studying to be a vet at Cambridge University.

Sammy arrived two years later and his physical abilities were apparent from an early age.

Mrs Ball said: “He was a very active toddler, one of those children who couldn’t sit still.

“He did a half day at Wargrave Pre-School. Sitting down and listening to stories? No, he wanted to be outside running; he would just run laps of the playground.

“The teachers would look quite tired when I came to pick him up. He wasn’t naughty, just very active. I’d pick him up at midday and then let him run round the recreation ground in the village. He would run up and down the slide every day. He wasn’t even thinking about lunch.”

Sammy went on to the Robert Piggott primary and secondary schools in the village.

Mrs Bell said: “At school he used to get into trouble for not sitting still and wandering around distracting other children. At athletics he was never told off. He was always just focused on doing well. It really gave him a focus. It’s been such an important part of his young life.”

Sammy always enjoyed sports day at school and would come first in the sprints. He said: “It was sports day when I realised I was quite fast. It was in year six when I won the 60m sprint and was elected to run at District Sports at Palmer Park in Reading.

“That was a good opportunity for me as I could compare how fast I was with all the schoolboys in the district and I ended up winning.

“After that, I decided to join Reading Athletics Club. I was put in a multi-event group to see what event I preferred and what I wanted to specialise in but then I realised I was quite good at all of them. I just continued down that path.”

His parents now support their son throughout his competitions and training.

Mrs Ball said: “We want to watch all his competitions. We enjoy it as much as he does. He has got to a point where he is more knowledgeable than we are, so now we’re more of a support team. When he was younger we would give him tips but we’re general dogsbodies now.

“A lot of our weekends during the athletics season from April to September are spent taking him to competitions or training. Often we have vaulting poles on the top of the car and have to strap them down. We have to make sure he has packed everything: shot, discus, javelin, poles, nine pairs of shoes, lots of protein bars and sports drinks.”

The couple help ensure that Sammy, who is vegan, has the right drinks and snacks to eat between events in the competition.

Sammy says that sourcing vegan food in Columbia proved difficult but there should be lots available in Jerusalem.

He has been “fuelling” himself for the competition.

He said: “During the first few days where I’m not competing, those are the key days to start fuelling up with carbs and stuff. And because you’re not going to eat too much during on the day, you don’t want to be digesting too much.”

Sammy, who was vegetarian for six years before deciding to go vegan two years ago, takes dietary supplements which are all tested and approved by Informed Sports to ensure that they do not contain any substances prohibited by anti-doping regulations.

“It was originally ethics,” he said. “I’m still strong on the ethics side but I think is good for athletes as well. I mean, my performance has increased since I’ve turned vegan and I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

“I saw a nutritionist who has helped me out. I’m taking creatine and balancing my meals throughout the day, getting all the macro and micronutrients. Veganism, done the right way, it’s definitely beneficial, I think.”

The Balls will not be allowed to meet their son between the different events at the championships.

Instead, he plans to fill the breaks by watching YouTube videos of a mountain bike rider called Sam Pilgrim and a channel called “How ridiculous” where people drop objects from a height and see what happens.

Sammy says there is camaraderie between the athletes and that he has kept in touch with some of his competitors from Columbia who he’s looking forward to seeing again next week.

He said: “The good thing about multi-events is you spend so much time with the fellow athletes, you get to know them. It’s always a good environment in the chill areas and just talking to each other.”

Sammy believes the competition will be strong as many of the best decathletes in the world are European but he is confident too.

“It’ll be a good competition,” he said. “I’d like a shiny medal. That has got to be the main aim. I wouldn’t be disappointed with any medal really but I’d like to get gold.”