Back injury forces Smith to prioritise (From News Shopper)

Back injury forces Smith to prioritise

4:17pm Tuesday 31st January 2012 in Other Sport

By Tom Reynolds

IT is a surprise for a 17-year-old to bemoan their age, but Greenwich weightlifting sensation Zoe Smith admits her creaking body means she’s already having to pick and choose her events to guarantee her London 2012 fitness.

With an Olympic status to rival the fresh-faced diving GB teen ace Tom Daley, Smith is all set to be one of the commercial stars of this summer’s Games after winning Commonwealth bronze in 2010.

However, her progress has been hampered in the last six months by a bulging disk in her back, limiting both Smith’s training capacity and competition schedule.

To Smith injuries are all in a day’s work for a weightlifter and she insists achieving the London 2012 qualification standard is not causing any sleepless nights.

But despite her bullishness about being part of the Games, Smith, who turns 18 in April, is well aware of her ‘old-age’ limitations.

“Having an ongoing problem with my back is not convenient, especially with the timing, but it’s part and parcel of the sport really,” said Smith, a former Townley Grammar School pupil.

“I am just having to deal with and still train in the meantime. I am doing as much as I can to get around it, but I wouldn’t say it’s hindering my progress as such now.

“It did last year and I had to miss a few competitions in the summer but now I am more or less back on track, it’s just finding a way to cope with it.”

Smith added: “I definitely feel good about the year ahead. I have got about four competitions before the Olympics so that should be more than enough time to nail my A-standard and just get really, really strong.

“I might be missing a few competitions that I might have done had I not had my injury.

“But I have got to be careful now because I am pushing myself to the absolute limit.

“When I was younger, I’m the old age of 18 this year, I could have pushed myself a little bit harder and recovered quicker but now I’m sort of lifting heavier weights it is getting harder to bounce straight back.”

With her training plan slightly hindered, Smith took some time out last week to help Lloyds TSB launch World Sport Day.

Smith was treated to a behind-the-scenes look at the Olympic Park in east London on Tuesday, touring the site before meeting children from the local area in the Handball Arena.

And having got a backstage look at the Games venues, Smith revealed her plans to drop a weight category from 63 to 58kg in order to launch an Olympic medal bid.

“I want to go down to 58kgs just because I want to be more competitive on the day,” she added.

“There is quite a steep increase from 58 to 63 at the top kind of end.

“The total I am aiming for at 58 is the 220kgs to 230 mark and that should be a top-five, potential medal zone.

“At 63kgs that would be more like a top-ten finish or top eight at best.

“The qualifying standard should be the easy part although obviously things can change on the day.”

Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week, the UK’s biggest school sporting event, takes place from June 25 to June 29 2012.

This year, the week will open with London 2012 World Sport Day, celebrating the world’s arrival in the UK for the greatest festival of sport.

Find out more and support your local school at lloydstsb.com/london2012

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