Gunnell backs our Baddeley

Aug 6 2008 by Our Correspondent, Birkenhead News

FORMER Olympic champion Sally Gunnell is convinced Wiral Athletics star Andy Baddeley has the ability and desire to end Britain’s 20-year wait for a middle-distance Olympic medal in Beijing.

Not since Peter Elliot landed 1,500m silver in Seoul has a British male stood on the podium, while the days of Lord Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett dominating the world in the 70s and 80s are long gone.

But Upton-born Baddeley is on course to change all that. The 26-year-old announced himself on the international scene last month when he won the Dream Mile in Oslo with the fastest time by a Briton in 20 years.

The former Calday Grange Grammar School pupil then went on to land the the 3,000m European Cup title and Gunnell insists the Wirral ace’s recent displays mean he is a serious candidate to end the British drought.

Gunnell, who has been working with Norwich Union to help uncover the National School Sport Week Unsung Hero, said: “I’m really enjoying watching Andy. He won the Oslo mile recently and it is lovely to see someone doing well in that middle-distance area. We haven’t had someone that is world class in that area for a few years now. I would love to think he can go to Beijing and get a medal.

“It is pretty tough out there with the Kenyans and everyone else but he is up there with the world leaders and it’s great to see. It’s nice to see athletes with that focus and real drive and belief that they can be the best.”

Gunnell knows what it’s like to have the weight of a nation on your shoulders with her 1992 Olympic gold the only medal – of any colour – won by a British female athlete.

And she has urged the British public to forget about the star names of the past and get behind Baddeley.

She added: “I think we’ve been looking for someone for years to step up. The general public are always asking what happened to the Coe-Ovett days, well here is somebody who over the last couple of months has shown he’s got great talent. He has shown he can perform when the pressure is on and he is somebody we can all get behind in Beijing this summer.”

National School Sport Week is a Government initiative supported by Norwich Union – to vote for your Unsung Hero simply visit www.joinourteam.com and win a dream day out at the Aviva London Grand Prix.