OLYMPIC and Commonwealth Games 200m sprinter Christian Malcolm was guest of honour for City of Salisbury Athletics and Running Club’s glittering awards night.
Staged at the Guildhall, the 37-year-old revealed his mantra for overcoming big-event nerves that once threatened to blight his career, writes John Ruskin.
Malcolm described how, after a tough childhood in south Wales, his work ethic and talent enabled him to rise to a level where he could enjoy representing Team GB against the world’s biggest names in sprinting.
By endlessly repeating to himself: ‘as soon as the gun goes, you go’ he found a way to shut out negative thinking and to fly out of the starting blocks on his way to the finish line half a lap away. Simple, but it worked.
His advice to aspiring Salisbury athletes was to aim high, to work hard at their chosen specialism and when racing always to focus on personal performance rather than take undue notice of competitors.
Malcolm went on to the year’s awards which included 16 categories.
Winners of each category are below:
Female cross country – Aly Sloane
Male cross country – Eddie O’Gorman
Female road racing – Charlotte Ingram
Male road racing – Reece Ingram
Female track and field – Alex Mundell
Male track and field – Andy Holme
Most improved female – Jane Whiteley
Most improved male – Nick Hudson
Top new member – Mark Glanville
Top female participant – Liz Roberts
Top male participant – Colin Martin
Top coach – Owen Brown
Top official – Andy Angell
Top volunteer – Gary Domoney
Best for club spirit – Emma Clarke and Stuart Holloway.
Finally, to a standing ovation, a special award was presented by Alex Mundell to coach Dave Amey for 50 years’ service to the club.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here