Freeman forced to go for gold alone

A total of £26m was given to UK Athletics in 2009, granting Britain’s top track and field stars access to the best training facilities, nutritionalists and physios in the country, as well as a war chest for all their travel and expenses in the run-up to London 2012.

The darkness, however, for an athlete who slips from that elite, almost pampered clique, can set in quickly.

For Emily Freeman, the lights began to go out in March, 2010.

The 30-year-old Wakefield Harrier was coming off the best year of her life.

She had built on an Olympic semi-final appearance in the 200m in Beijing by qualifying for the final in the World Championships in Berlin 12 months later. As the highest-placed European in the field, the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona would be her crowning achievement.

She had also run the fourth fastest 200m by a woman in British history, and had got married in the New Year.

But a calf injury sustained in March, 2010, turned a period of happiness into a living nightmare.

“I had been going nowhere for a long time,” reflects Freeman, who can now happily report to be on her way back. “Some big changes were made to my circumstances and it was very stressful.

“UK Athletics encouraged me to train and live away from home in Loughborough, so I was doing that during the week and then returning home to Rotherham to be with my husband at weekends. It was very hard for the first few months.

“And then the injury – it was just a calf injury, but we just never really got to the bottom of it. I’d get back into training but would struggle to run more than one day a week. From everything going so well, this has been the hardest two seasons of my life.”

Freeman’s fall will bottom out this morning when, as she expects, her funding will be stripped by UK Athletics on the announcement of their elite performance squad for the final sprint to London 2012. She has been preparing for the loss, and has already developed a siege mentality about the past that should strengthen her for the future.

“It’s pretty tough to lose it a year out from the Olympics,” she says. “And any help I can get from external sponsors, big or small, will be greatly appreciated.

“But I’ve got to go it on my own now. I can’t make decisions based on my funding anymore, I’ve got to make decisions based on performance and how I can get the best out of myself.”

She has already begun the transition and the road back. Freeman is back full-time in Rotherham and since September has been training injury-free at the Don Valley Stadium and English Institute of Sport. She is even considering a change of discipline.

“I am excited about the challenge of the 400m, and the 4x400m relay, but also hope to run some 200m as well,” she says.“My next aim is the indoor season. Having not raced for a year I am really looking forward to it. I feel in the best shape of my life and it’s all to play for in London.”

To sponsor Emily visit www.emily-freeman.co.uk