Birmingham crowd to inspire Hazel

Hazel joined Birchfield from Peterborough in 2008

Birchfield Harriers heptathlete Louise Hazel has said she will be looking to home support for inspiration at the UK Championships in Birmingham in July.

The 23-year-old will be attempting to book her place in the Great Britain team for the World Championships in Berlin.

Hazel told BBC WM: "It's imperative that we have support from Birmingham. You can't underestimate the power of the home crowd.

"The guys down at Birchfield have been really welcoming and I definitely think of Birmingham as home now."

People do believe that athletes get things handed to them along the way. It's not the truth. It's a really hard sport. It's not for the faint-hearted

Louise Hazel

Hazel joined Birchfield from Peterborough in 2008 after living in the Midlands while attending Birmingham University, where she still works part-time.

She is excited at the prospect of appearing at the Alexander Stadium, having already felt the benefit of the support of her new home city.

"When I stood in the NIA in February, I got a huge reception from the crowd," said Hazel.

"I think that's really what contributed to me getting the fourth place and beating the Olympic champion. We need all the support that we can get.

"I think of myself as an adopted Brummie."

Having lost her funding, Hazel has been urgently hunting for sponsors this year to allow her the time to concentrate on full-time training.

"One difficult thing about the heptathlon is the amount of time we need to spend training. For an athlete competing over seven events, the demands of training are a lot higher, with equipment costs and things like that.," said Hazel.

"People believe that athletes get things handed to them along the way. It's not the truth. It's a really hard sport and it's not for the faint hearted.

"There's a lot of sacrifice involved, but it's a real test of character in terms of what you want to achieve - putting in realistic terms what you want to achieve and then the extras, the glamorous lifestyle and things, and really you only get that once you've achieved massive success.

"For me personally, it's all about achieving my dream and competing in the London 2012 Olympics, and being a role model along the way."