Injured Lennie fails in Olympics
Determination got her round the track in pain
Injury cut short Lennie Waite’s maiden appearance at an Olympic Games last week as she struggled to 17th place in the 3000m steeplechase heats.
The East Kilbride Athletic Club star battled through the pain barrier just to complete her first and only run in Rio after tearing her plantar (the ligaments that connect your heel to your toes) in the build up to the Games.
A run of 10:14.18 was only good enough for 17th place in her heat on Saturday and she missed out on her pre-Games target of running in the final.
Waite revealed she almost had to pull out of the Olympics altogether after a partial tear at the London Anniversary Games last month.
But she struggled on to realise her dreams of competing on athletics’ biggest stage.
She told the News: “I arrived at the training camp in Belo Horizonte with a lot of pain in my left foot still and had an ultrasound and MRI on my plantar.
“The results confirmed the tear and it became a game of managing the injury so that I could complete the race.
“Ten days prior to the Olympics I was unsure of whether or not I would be able to make it around the track.
“Luckily, my foot turned a corner about five days before the race and I was able to do some running in my flats.
“I stayed out of my spikes and away from fast paces because of the risk of tearing my plantar more or completely rupturing it.
“It was a very emotional buildup to the games but I was determined to make it over all 35 barriers in the Olympic Stadium.
“I had not hurdled or run more than a few 100m strides in my spikes before the race, and I stepped onto the track hoping the adrenaline of the environment would mask the pain.
“Unfortunately, I felt a sharp pain in my arch during the first 100 metres and it worsened from there with each barrier.
“I focused on getting over each hurdle and was relieved to have completed the race.
“Track is a brutal sport, and I experienced a harsh side of it in my first Olympics.”
Waite, who lived in Thortonhall as a child and now resides in America, finished 47th out of 48 steeplechase athletes as a result of her injury.
It was another big blow to the 200m steeplechase British record holder after she made the qualifying criteria for last year’s World Championships, only for Team GB to decide they would not be taking any steeplechase athletes.
But she is determined to use her experience in Rio to push her on in the coming months.
She added: “I am more inspired than ever after running in such an amazing venue and I am confident that 2017 will be a great year.
“I am looking forward to training to represent East Kilbride, Scotland, and Great Britain at the World Championships in London next year with two healthy feet.
“I’d like to thank everyone for their support during the Games.”