Olympic gold medalist, and a seven-time world champion Britney Reese swapped the sunny climate of California for the blustery weather of Kilkenny this weekend.
Reese came over to work with renowned local physio David Roche from Roches Injury Clinic. Alongside her visit, they both put on a work shop for young athletes in Loughboy based Gym The Watershed.
Speaking to Scoreline Reese outlined what has brought her to the “Sunny” south east ;
“My Passion has always been to learn more and David reached out, so we decided to put together this (the workshop), so I am excited to be in Ireland”
“I watched Davids videos on instagram, he is really passionate about what he does so it caught my attention.”
“He is just very focused on his craft, which to me is very important, because I am focused on my craft. I like to be in partnership with somebody like that.”
That is some high compliments the indoor American record holder in the long jump with a distance of 7.23 meters. For someone that does it all, the discipline to remain focused is evident in Reese. When speaking with her, she explained what keeps her focused;
“It is onto the next one. I wanted to leave a legacy. I have a 14 year old son, so I wanted him to see how hard I work. I wanted to be considered one of the top athletes in the world in the long jump and I feel like I achieved that goal.”
Britney has to be considered one of, if not thee greatest longer jumpers ever. She has been described as “The Usain Bolt of Long Jump”, but maybe Bolt is “The Britney Reese of Sprinting”. The original description all though no doubt is flattering, it outlines a bigger issue. That track is generally gets more attention then field in the general media. We wanted to get Reese’s opinion on how the on field aspect of Athletics can grow more in popularity ;
“Marketing and just being around, putting on different types of street meets. Traveling the world and let other people see you in the flesh, makes a huge difference. Our sport has a lot to work on but we are heading in the right direction.”
Not everyday you get to meet someone of Britneys calibre, or get to hold a gold medal in your hand! As someone who works in sports, it was just truly wonderful to get to do that. I look forward to seeing who David brings over next! Check out Davids clinic here rocheinjuryclinic.com , if its good enough for the best, it is good enough for a Joe Soap like me!
You can listen to our full interview with Britney Reese on our Scoreline Extra Podcast below :
