Wellings buries injury worries with strong win
FIVE weeks ago, Eloise Wellings didn’t even know if she’d make the start line at the world athletics championships in London next month.
Battling ankle tendinosis after an earlier tear caused the chronic condition, Wellings said she had mentally ruled out competing at the worlds, concentrating only on overcoming the injury.
But after the injury finally showed improvement in late May, Wellings set her focus on the 10,000m in London and her win in the 10km on Saturday showed her preparations are back on track.
Wellings won the race in 32min 55sec, the secondfastest time in history, just behind the race record of 32:17 set by Olympian Lisa Weightman in 2012.
“It’s exciting because I’ve been struggling with an injury since December last year,” Wellings said after the race.
“(When I was injured) I wasn’t even really thinking about the world championships anymore, I almost had to rule it out in my head.
“When you’re trying to get through an injury, you’ve got to focus on the process of getting through the injury and then once it gets better you can go, what’s next.
“About five weeks ago it got better and I feel like I’m really unlimited with training now and I can be free to push myself and not be worried about how my injury’s going to pull up the next day or my body’s going to pull up the next day.
“I feel like it’s exciting because every session I’m seeing improvements.”
A finalist in the 5000m and 10,000m at the Rio Olympics last year, Wellings was a consistent finalist at Diamond League meetings last season in a flawless preparation for the Games. But she sees a bright side to this season’s struggles.
“Last year I was maintaining the same high level all year and you didn’t necessarily see massive improvements, it was kind of maintaining,” she said.
“But now I feel like I’m getting stronger and poppier each session. This race is much better than my last one.”