WINNER: Warrington Sports Personality of 2010: ABIGAYLE FITZPATRICK (From Warrington Guardian)

WINNER: Warrington Sports Personality of 2010: ABIGAYLE FITZPATRICK

2:21pm Thursday 4th November 2010 in Sport By Christopher Terris Taylor

ABIGAYLE Fitzpatrick has her heart set on Olympic Games success after an eventful 12 months.

The 17-year-old from Great Sankey made history when she earned selection for the first Youth Olympics in Singapore in August. She also won bronze in the Northern Indoor Championships and represented Great Britain in the European Youth Olympics trials in Moscow.

Disappointed with her own performance after a tough campaign in Singapore, Abi was close to changing her event, eyeing a 200m place instead of her usual 400m hurdles.

But, after a few weeks to mull over the decision, the Warrington Athletics Club member is ready to resume her 400m training and establish herself in the minds of future Olympic selectors.

She said: “After discussing it with my coach I am going to focus on the 400m, as I have enjoyed most success in that event.

“The training is very hard but I’m still confident that I can do well, as the top people in my sport were running times similar to mine at my age.

“London 2012 is a goal obviously, but I have to be realistic and the 2016 games is my real target.”

Abi trains five times a week to stay in shape for top competition and is currently aiming to blow away her rivals at the National Championships in February.

Success there would lead to an appearance at the European Junior Championships next June, when Abi believes she would have the edge after experiencing the pressure of international competition at the highest level.

“The experience of running at the Olympics has prepared me for the big international competitions,” she said.

“It has given me the experience and knowledge that I can carry with me to make it easier for me to perform in senior games and future competitions.”

Short-listed nominees in this category