27th April 2012 06:44
On the eve of her 400 metres hurdles final at the 1994 European Athletics Championships, Sally Gunnell held an impromptu press conference sitting on the grass in front of the statue of Finland's middle distance marvel Lasse Viren outside Helsinki's Olympic Stadium.
Viren had done the 'double double' at the Olympics, winning the 5000m and 10,000m in 1972 and 1976. But this British woman was on the brink of her own extraordinary achievement, having arrived in Finland as world, Olympic and Commonwealth champion and world record holder. Only the European title remained ...
The following day she completed her athletic full house, finishing more than a second clear of Germany's Silvia Rieger in 53.33 seconds in a race where bronze medallist Anna Knoroz of Russia matched the silver medallist's time of 54.68.
Job done. But as Gunnell now recalls, the magnitude of her achievement didn't sink in immediately. 'The initial feeling was just relief to have lived up to expectation,' she says. 'And my thoughts were then turning to the relay event and the Commonwealth Games coming up afterwards in Canada.
'It probably means more to me now than it did at the time. I'm still the only woman to have done it. And when people introduce me now at events they refer to the fact that I held all four titles and the world record.
'My three boys, who are now 13, 11 and nine, know about my athletics. But I am just 'Mum' to them. And when we are kicking a ball around in the garden, they sometimes wonder how I ever did what I did!'
Even though Gunnell was the favourite in Helsinki she insists she took nothing for granted – thanks to her experience at the European Athletics Championships four years earlier.
'I'd had a complete disaster in Split when I was also one of the favourites,' she says. 'In such a technical event as the 400m hurdles you have to concentrate all the way round because mistakes can so easily happen. On that occasion I had got my stride pattern wrong and I finished in sixth place. I remember being really disappointed. But I learned an awful lot from that experience, and what happened in Split probably made me the athlete I was at the 1992 Olympics.
'Helsinki was the highlight of the year for me. The Europeans were what I had been training for and I was taking it very seriously. I couldn't afford to be blasé, and I was quite nervous beforehand. But I knew that I was a pretty tough competitor when it mattered. I'd shown that in the previous two years, and I felt pretty invincible at that time.
'I was aware of Rieger because I had raced against her quite often on the circuit. But you could never be sure about who the Russian runners would be – they were always coming up with new talents who had done their running for the season back home.
'I do remember really enjoying my athletics that year. I really enjoyed Helsinki. It's not often in an athlete's career when you are at the top of your game and in good shape and looking forward to a championship as I was in 1994. And I wasn't so nervous beforehand that I couldn't have a little look round the stadium, which is a marvellous arena.
'I felt very at home in Helsinki. It was the same kind of weather as in England, and where we were staying was very comfortable and convenient. I felt very relaxed, and enjoyed the social side of things. Everything was really well organised.'
The new European Athletics Championship is something Gunnell feels can be beneficial to many competitors.
'I think having the European Athletics Championships every two years does give athletes, and particularly the next tier of developing athletes, a chance to experience more regularly what a big championship is all about. And many of the European events are bloody tough. It's the next stage up from the Commonwealth Games, and not far off the Worlds and the Olympics.
'There's so much you can learn from the Europeans as a championship experience. I remember going to the 1988 Seoul Olympics and being blown away by the size of it all. I remember having to sit in the call room for half an hour with the opponents I was going to be racing. That is the kind of pressure you don't get other than at major championships, and you have to go through it if you want to be able to do well at the highest levels. Because it is scary, and quite daunting.
'One of the 1500m runners my husband Jon Bigg coaches at Phoenix AC, Charlie Grice, could well be someone who would really benefit from being in Helsinki this summer, even though his main aim this year is the World Junior Championships.
'I loved watching the British girls win the 400m relay at the World Indoor championships earlier this year. It was great to see another 400m hurdler, Perri Shakes-Drayton, running the last leg. I hope the 400m relay girls are in Helsinki – I will certainly be making a point of watching the Championships on television back home.'
The 2012 European Athletics Championships will be held in the Finnish capital from 27 June – 1 July.