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PODCAST #40: Aimee Pratt, Ben Pattison and Isabelle Boffey look ahead to big summers

As we continue our #Journeyto2022, this episode features three talented athletes looking forward to big summers.

Olympic steeplechaser Aimee Pratt - who has gone from strength to strength making international teams over the last few years - discusses her beginnings in the sport at the age of 14 and the disappointments she has learnt from.

"I've learnt a lot more from the times that I've failed than the times that I've won."

She has hopes for a great 2022 season in which there are three major athletics competitions on the international calendar.

"I feel like I'm waiting for my breakthrough race...I just need to step up and hopefully this is the year."

European under-20 800m silver medallist Ben Pattison talks about his recovery after being asked to consider stopping athletics by doctors who told him he required an operation due to a heart condition - Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome which causes the heart to beat abnormally fast.

"My heart rate was getting up to 250bpm during sessions...I had to get an operation...it meant I couldn't do any exercise for three months which was very tough at the time but I had the right people around me which got me through it."

"I took it very slowly to start with because I had to let the wound heal but once I was back running, I found my shape so quickly" -

After winning double gold at the British Universities' Athletics Championships for the University of Birmingham, European under-23 800m champion Isabelle Boffey describes the buzz around the city which will host this summer's Commonwealth Games. Birmingham-based athlete Isabelle Boffey is looking forward to seeing it stage the Commonwealth Games.

"There's been a buzz all year so it's just like we're waiting for it to happen now. It's really exciting to be living in a host city."

You'll also hear from an official preparing for the Games as part of a visit to the Norfolk County Championships by our CEO Chris Jones. Paul Bailey from Norfolk will be officiating at this summer's event in Birmingham.

"My son was competing, the club needed officials, I kept at it and decided I would make that my hobby. I worked my way gradually up to Level 4 and the culmination is being set for the Commonwealth Games, which is quite a pinnacle." -

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