With the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio just around the corner, Global News is talking to some of B.C.’s most prominent athletes on their way to Olympic glory. Today, we are talking to 27-year-old Vancouver native and javelin athlete Liz Gleadle, who surprised many in her Olympic debut at London 2012 when she became the first Canadian woman to qualify for an Olympic javelin final since 1968. Gleadle also holds five Canadian titles.
Where are you from and where do you train? I was born and raised in Vancouver, but my coach is based in Alberta, which is where I spend most of the winter months. My parents, boyfriend and physiotherapist are all in Vancouver, so I am based here all summer, but I am not even sure which province I legally live in anymore.
What are you looking forward to the most in Rio? Just standing on the runway and performing.
What has the last year of training been like for you? There’s been an increase in mental focus for sure. It’s really nice to intrinsically want to train harder and in a more focused way as well as have better quality practices. So, that has been the difference this year — there is this intrinsic desire to really buckle down.
What’s your goal in Rio? It’s my goal to have a personal best at the Olympics. I believe that my personal best would get me a medal, and hopefully a gold medal, but if I have a throw of my life, and somebody else also has a throw of their life and it’s a bit farther than mine, I’d be a little bitter about it, but at the end of the day I did what I was there to do.
Did you ever see yourself becoming an Olympian? Probably not until I was about 20-years-old. I was in the middle of the pack in all the sports that I tried until I got into more individual sports. I realized that I function better just doing an individual event and then I watched the 2008 Olympics and the World Championships in 2009 and realized that I wanted to be there and that’s what I wanted to do.
Who has been your greatest influence in your sport? Honestly, it is a combination of everybody. I am very selective about who coaches me, who treats me and who I hang out with. Everybody brings something to the table. My coach is incredibly detail-oriented. I learn so much from him and he is just a great person. My boyfriend is a rower, so we kind of edge each other on. We really understand what it’s like to train this much. My physiotherapists are really top-notch and inspirational. So, it is definitely not just one person. It a community. It takes a village.
Do you have any good luck charms/superstitions? I try not to. It’s kind of weird. You go through certain phases where, for example, you wear your hair a certain way, but I don’t think it’s healthy. Things are constantly changing. If you can adapt to any routine, then you are going to have a better chance. So, if you can throw in wind and rain, if you can throw with your hair up or down, pants or shorts, jewelry or no jewelry, it doesn’t make a difference. At the end of the day, in case my bag ever gets lost or whatever, all I need is my spikes and my javelin. That’s all that I should need.
What do you do to relax between training? I Skype with friends, lie in bed and read books. If I have some down time, it is just putting my feet up and letting my nervous system rest. There is a lot of non-glorious napping time in between that people don’t see.
Do you ever have a cheat day? If so what do you do/eat? Right now, I am not eating grains or sugar. But we all have those days when you are like, ‘no, today I am eating all I want.’ You realize by the end of the day that might not have been the best choice, but there is definitely motivation during the Olympic year to stay as true to your training as possible.
Is anyone in your family or any of your friends hoping to attend the Games to support you? My boyfriend just booked his ticket. My parents, two family friends and two girlfriends from college are also coming. Quite a few of my family members went to the London 2012 Olympics and they had so much fun.
Aside from training, do you have another job? I train full-time, but I also occasionally do motivational speeches at schools and I love doing that.
Do you play any other sports? No. It’s too risky. I have sprained my ankles just walking downstairs. A couple of years ago, I sprained my ankle while playing basketball – not too badly, but badly enough to have to take time off training. It’s just not worth the risk.
If you weren’t an athlete, what would you like to do? Something in the field of education, public health and nutrition. I think people have a very skewed idea of what’s healthy. I think our understanding of our own body is not where it should be, and I think that would be an amazing thing to be a part of.
Have you been in Brazil before? No, this will be my first time.
If you have time outside of the Games, where would you like to go or eat or drink in Rio? I have not looked into the touristy side of it yet. I still have to compete about a week after the Olympics, and have to fly all the way to Europe for that, but there will be one or two days where I get to relax though.
How is your Portuguese? I was using an app to learn Portuguese a while ago, but I took Spanish and every time I was trying to learn Portuguese, I ended up trying to speak Spanish. I will try to brush up on things like – ‘where is the bathroom?’ and ‘how do I get back to the Olympic Village?’ in Portuguese.
Are you concerned about the Zika virus or the political situation in the country? I have been trying to read up on Zika, but I am not really planning to get pregnant for a few years, so it’s not too much of an issue for me right now. You just get your vaccinations and hope you don’t get sick, but I am not seeing it as something that I need to be concerned about because I don’t think Canada would send its athletes if it was a real threat.
What’s your take on the doping controversy surrounding track and field? There is not as high of an incidence of doping in my event as in other events, because it’s so skill specific, but I guess it happens and it is unfortunate. I have pretty much no respect for athletes who blatantly do a drug that’s going to lead to physiological changes for the rest of their lives. There are some drugs that could come from things like a cold medicine and that could be a mistake, but if you take an anabolic steroid, you are blatantly a cheater, but it is a part of track and field unfortunately.
Comments