Grass is greener for Meadows

Wigan's 800m star soaks up the attention in Berlin after two years of hardship

By Mark Ashenden

Jenny Meadows has just been told by her employers that she is getting a pay rise.

A salary of £26,142 may seem a relatively modest reward for a World Championship bronze medallist, but Wigan's star 800m runner is ecstatic given the pain and sacrifice she has made over the previous two years on around £7,500 a year.

"It really is a life-changing figure," the 28-year-old said, one day after hearing she was joining 66 athletes in the top tier of the 2009/2010 UK Athletics lottery funding programme.

"It won't make make me rich but it will allow me to have good facilities, I won't have to get up at six in the morning (two more hours in bed), I'll be able to rest properly and go to training camps.

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"I can now do my athletics without any of the stresses so I can start thinking about what I'm doing on the track and not what's off it, like paying bills."

After taking up the sport aged seven, Meadows went on to win the English Schools and AAA's national 800m titles, gained more success in the one-lap races and in 2007 broke the illustrious two-minute barrier for two laps - indoors and outdoors.

It may not have seemed like it at the time but a month before the 2007 Osaka World Championships she sat down with her coach and husband, Trevor Painter, and made a decision that would either make or break her career.

"We agreed giving up my job was for the best," said Meadows, who was head athletics coach for Manchester City Council.

"I was so unhappy working hard during the day, driving for an hour and then having to train. It was a nightmare.

"My candle was burning at both ends and I was getting really run down. I wasn't giving myself a chance to compete properly.

"Financially, we couldn't afford to give up my job, but I couldn't afford not to for my athletics."

I'm more motivated for training and it's made me think bigger goals for the podium at London 2012

Jenny Meadows

Forced to constantly juggle finances on their limited joint income - which involved paying for their flights to meetings, training camps and utility bills, relying on friends and family for loans - it was a desperate but rational act.

A year later, despite impressing at the World Indoors and winning the European Cup, Meadows was left wondering if she had made the right decision after finishing sixth in the Olympic semi-finals in Beijing.

Another 12 months on and she answered any doubts she may have had in stunning fashion.

Running the final bend of the 800m final at the World Championships in Berlin, she produced a dramatic late burst to snatch bronze.

South Africa's Caster Semenya grabbed all the headlines by winning gold and then becoming embroiled in a gender test controversy, but Meadows had made it.

A debut Championship medal in a life-time best of one minute 57.93 seconds catapulted her on to the global stage.

But, as far as she is concerned, it is only the start.

"The bronze in Berlin was a childhood dream, but I'm obviously not stopping at that," she said.

"I've managed to rise to the top without much help which is testament to myself and husband and my training groups, so it's nice to get the recognition.

"I would have found it hard to keep motivated if I hadn't made the final in Berlin. The bronze has given me a massive boost which is probably two years earlier than we planned.

"I know I need to work on endurance, but I'm more motivated for training and it's made me think bigger goals for London 2012."

Meadows admitted to running more races last year than she needed to, earning between £400 and £800 for each event across Europe and South Korea "just to cover" herself.

But now, as a category A Podium level athlete, she can take a more pragmatic approach as she seeks to add to her medal haul.

And with a bank account soon to boosted by £12,000 for her efforts in Germany, not to mention a soon-to-be-signed first sponsorship deal, perhaps it is time for a dose of self-indulgence?

"I love shopping but whenever I have money I don't actually want to go," she said. "I'm actually grateful for once in my life that a bill can come in and there's money in the bank.

"I must be getting a bit stingy with my money."