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Athletes get imaginative in lockdown

Many of us have had to make changes to our exercise regime in order to stick to government pandemic restrictions and help save lives. Of course, England’s top athletes are not exempt from the government guidelines. However, despite the Olympics being postponed until next year, they have been hard at work to try to keep their training intact within the restrictions; it’s been more difficult for some than others. Sprinters and field-eventers, in particular, have found the closures of gyms and tracks hard-hitting. Some of our top athletes have therefore had to be quite imaginative. Whether winning methods or not, they’ve given us a smile on social media in these difficult times.

Kat’s home heptathlon

World heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson recently reconstructed the hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200m, long jump, javelin and 800m in her home and garden.
The Liverpool Harrier’s exploits involved racing dogs Chorizo and Bronx, throwing a paper aeroplane and hurdling a cushion adorned with the face of her partner, world indoor 60m hurdles champion Andrew Pozzi.

Kat is also asking a favour - help design a special medal for our key workers

Running the bath

Adam Gemili, who was fourth at the 2016 Olympics over 200m, endeavoured to replicate his event by sprinting in the bath.

No gym, no problem

World hammer finalist Nick Miller has improvised when it comes to his weight training. He joined up a scaffolding pipe and some log rounds for a 140g set of dumbbells.

Jump to it

UK’s top triple jumper Ben Williams replaced a runway for the roadside to try to get a jump on his rivals during lockdown.

Tom raises the bar

Thanks to the carpentry skills of his dad, high jumper Tom Gale, the European U23 silver medallist, shows the sky’s the limit when it comes to lockdown training.

Abigail is on track

World long jump finalist Abigail Irozuru hasn’t let the closure of track facilities thwart her.

Laviai is streets apart

World 400m semi-finalist Laviai Nielsen has been taking to the streets and to her conservatory to keep her training going.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Home isn’t so bad ☺️ I did all my training today in the space of about 10 metres 🙌🏽 . The goal has been pushed back a bit now, which is okay - it just means we have more time now to work on ourselves, to make sure we’ll be the best athletes we can be when our time comes. At the start of this training year, I set a goal to be more consistent with my training, because we all know consistency is 🔑 this still remains my training goal. It might be a little challenging now with safety restrictions in place, but all that means is getting a little bit creative with what we’ve got. Today, I did my strides on the road outside my house (shout-out to my neighbour Tom for giving me some encouraging words during my mini session ☺️), and then moved to my conservatory 🏠 to do my gym session. I can’t do everything I usually do, so I tried to adapt as best as I could which meant a couple new exercises! So now I’m excited to try out more things with my training now to remain fit and conditioned throughout this crazy year. #hometeam #stayhomesavelives @adidas

A post shared by L A V I A I N I E L S E N (@laviai) on Mar 24, 2020 at 12:47pm PDT

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