RIO OLYMPICS
my mum and dad, ‘I feel dreadful’.
“I went to the doctor for tests and they found I had giardia which is a waterborne parasite.
“It usually comes from animal poo. I was ill for weeks after. I was so tired. It messed up my entire summer.”
By then the Olympics she’d dreamt of had gone. And the Glaswegian struggled to recover.
The times weren’t setting the stopwatch on fire. Potter thought about calling it quits and maybe trying another sport.
Now teaching physics in London, she was dragged along to see Mick Woods, who was coaching Steph Twell and another cluster of top Brits. She said: “It was my last shot.
“I was fed up of running. But he told me I had to buy into the programme. He told me it would take a while for results to show. He gets you really strong, so when you go to a race it feels easy. But the sessions are tough.”
Potter’s form returned in 2014 with a European final and fifth at the Commonwealths. And although the following season didn’t hit the mark, Potter set her sights on getting to Rio and her times were bang on.
Coming second at the trials – ahead of Supermum Jo Pavey – booked her ticket to Brazil.
She’s had almost three months now to get her head round it all.
In just a few days Potter will hop on the shuttle from the British team’s training camp in Belo Horizonte and make herself a home from home in the Athletes Village.
She said: “I was really excited on the plane over. I didn’t get much sleep. I’ve had so many setbacks over the years I started running and doing athletics, nine years ago – and yes, I thought an Olympics might be possible. But I did everything right this year and it’s paid off.”
Roughly 30 minutes of action and her Games will be done. Then she’ll have nine days to be a cheerleader and spectator with a free pass to soak up Rio 2016.
Potter said: “I want to go and see Katie Archibald. We trained together when we were younger.
“She was a talented swimmer and it’s good to see she’s doing so well after switching to cycling.”
After Potter made certain she’d join Archibald in Brazil, she made an Olympic pilgrimage of her own to East London, where a Games was once held.
She said: “The week after I qualified for Rio I said to my boyfriend, ‘Shall we go for a run around the Olympic Park?’ It rounded the week off on a high.”
Barra, the main site of these Olympics, may lack the charm of London or the wow factor of Sydney and Beijing but Potter said: “It’s exciting that this will be my Olympic Park. I can’t wait to get into the Village and hopefully it will go well.”