The Great Britain Athletics team arrived home from the European Championships in Barcelona yesterday, anxious to show off their medals and recall those precious moments from Spain.
The Great Britain team’s final medal tally exceeded expectations, reaching 19 overall, making this the best ever achievement by a GB Athletics team.
Many eyes will now be firmly set on the London Olympics in 2012, which will take place in under two years time. Praise has been heaped on Great Britain’s head coach Charles van Commenee, who’s passion for the sport has been likened to that of football manager Jose Mourinho by Kelly Sotherton.
Sotherton’s sentiments are echoed by UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner who said:
“It is very easy to make a caricature of Charles, but Kelly has it absolutely right when she compares him to Jose Mourinho.
“He’s not only got the strong personality and the ability to cut through the nonsense and tell it like it is, but he’s got a great understanding of his sport and phenomenal technical ability. If you speak to the athletes there is a high degree of respect there, but there isn’t fear and I think that is a key dividing line. It’s easy to come across as a hard taskmaster but if you have no substance underneath and an understanding of what is required and the nuances of athletics you would be built on sand and he is built on strong foundations.”
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