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| Carolina Kluft and Emma Green Tregaro of Sweden take in the surroundings at Stockholm's City Hall ahead of the 2011 SPAR European Team Championships in the Swedish city. |
Sweden’s Carolina Klüft and Emma Green Tregaro, Poland’s Tomasz Majewski and Great Britain’s Andy Turner were this year's guests at the traditional European Athletics press conference ahead of the SPAR European Team Championships in Stockholm on Friday.
Here are excerpts from the press conference with the athletes.
Carolina Klüft - Three-time world champion, two-time European champion and the 2004 Olympic Games gold medallist in heptathlon
What are your hopes and expectations for this weekend and can you reflect on the season so far (she will be competing in the long jump and possibly the 4x100m relay this weekend)?
Well, this will be just my second long jump competition. I opened with what I thought was quite a good result of 6.49m even though I didn’t feel very fresh. Training has been going well and I’m getting into better shape although my technique was not working so well in my last competition. I’m looking forward to competing more and more and I should find my rhythm and technique in every competition step-by-step. I’ve been away for a while and I haven’t been able to compete at a high level for a while because of injuries so I’m looking forward to getting back.
If the weather is bad, how do you feel about that?
I hope it’s not going to rain because that scares me a bit. I can slip on the board; but, for sure, I’ll bring towels and I’ll ask the good guys that are the officials to really dry it before I jump. I don’t want a wet board because I slipped and got a big injury before. I’ll try to beat the weather, but I have to compete and so I have to be ready for it.
You have said you are going to retire after the Olympics so is there any chance you can return to the heptathlon next season for one last competition before you go?
No, it [the heptathlon] is not fun. I will concentrate on the long jump. I don’t have energy, motivation or anything else for the heptathlon anymore, so I don’t have any reason to go back. I ended my heptathlon career with a smile on my face and happy with what I’d achieved. In my final year, I hope to do my best in the long jump and leave track, hopefully, with another smile on my face.
What are your plans after you retire?
I’m going to do something completely different. I don’t think I’m going to be a coach or a TV commentator, I think I’d be really bad at that. I think I’m just going to be happy to go to competitions, watch my friends, and have a good time. I’ve thought about a few other things after I retire but I haven’t made any solid plans as I want to keep my focus on what I’m doing on the track at the moment. I think I’m going to take some time to relax and decide what I want to do without being pushed, but I’m sure I’m not going to do nothing.
Emma Green Tregaro - 2010 European Athletics Championships high jump silver medallist
What are your hopes and expectations for this weekend and can you reflect on the season so far?
I’ve had two competitions so far this year. My first was in Rome and it was not that good, I had problems with my technique and the timing of my run up. The second was last weekend in New York; which went much, much, better. However, I’ve still got so much to work on. I hope it’s not going to rain, but I think it will, so I just hope to just do the best I can in the conditions. I’d like to get a better feeling about my technique and jump higher than I did in New York.
What was it like to beat Blanka Vlašic in New York? (It was only the second time she had finished ahead of the 2010 European Athlete of the Year in 60 meetings and the last one was in 2005.)
It was a good feeling, of course I was happy but I didn’t have the chance to speak to Blanka after the meeting.
Tomasz Majewski - 2008 Olympics Games shot put gold medallist who also won silver medals at the 2009 World Championships and 2010 European Athletics Championships
What are your hopes and expectations for this weekend and can you reflect on the season so far?
This season is looking good. I’ve already had a few of throws over 21 metres and I’m happy about that. My technique is still not as good as I would like but I’m hoping this weekend to throw further than I’ve done before this year. Stockholm has also been a lucky place for me as it was here that I threw my personal best of 21.95m here two years ago.
You missed the indoor season; can you elaborate on the reasons?
I got an injury last season so I passed the indoor season for the first time in many years. It was almost a boring winter for me because I always train hard but without competitions and as I was recovering from the injury it was almost more so.
The injury was in my right shoulder and it's something has bothered me for several years. I had a bone growth that was cutting into my muscle and causing problems so last September I had to have an operation. It took me two months of rehabilitation before I could get back to training properly again.
It [the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Paris] was a very good competition for the Germans [Germany’s Ralf Bartels and David Storl won the gold and silver medals]. I watched it on TV and I haven’t watched many like that as I have been to nearly every other major championship since 2004.
The shot put has been held a day ahead of some Diamond League meetings, in city centres venues. Do you think that concept could work for Championships?
Why not? In Hengelo recently it was great fun and we also have competitions like that in Stockholm and Zurich. It’s great to have music, a big atmosphere and the crowd nearby, that generates big throws. In Zurich last year [when it was held in the Zurich central railway station], I was generally throwing around the 21-metre level but I had one big foul at around 22-metres so this sort of competition can lead to some good performances.
Andy Turner - 2010 European Athletics Championships 110m gold medallist
What are your hopes and expectations for this weekend and can you reflect on the season so far?
I’ve run in a few Diamond Leagues and I feel I’ve improved on my performances from last year and I’m getting closer to the best in the world. I’m working hard and this weekend, I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a team competition and every point counts. I’ve won at the first two Championships and obviously, I’d like to win again. If I get 12 points for the team, then I’ll be happy.
You’ve had a busy season already, what are your plans for the rest of the season?
My coach and I looked at this season and how we did last season, and we did a lot of races early last season. Now’s the time when there will be more quality rather than quantity in my racing. It worked for me ahead of, and going to, Barcelona so hopefully it’ll work for me with regards to Daegu.
You’ve gone close to your personal best of 13.27 in the last couple of seasons but it’s still been there since 2007. Is there any sense of frustration?
It is frustrating. I’ve been peppering it all season but I haven’t nailed it yet, but I’m happy that I’ve been consistent. My training shows that I’m in good shape so hopefully a new PB will come soon.