Up and Coming: Alison Rodger | Gladiator who has shot to top in Britain

Published on Saturday 9 May 2009 20:02

ALISON Rodger wants desperately to be a contender. "I'm ready," she confirms. Which would be an absolutely appropriate state of preparation for anyone aspiring to be a contestant on Gladiators. But for a late decision from the producers of the television show that transformed the cotton bud into a super-sized weapon, Britain's top shot-putter could have been taking on all-comers in a different arena than the one she will find herself in today.

"I hadn't applied, but I got a phone call one day from Sky asking me to come and try out," the 24-year-old Glaswegian revealed. "I watched it as a kid and loved it so I thought I might as well go down and give it a shot. It was so hard. There were so many interviews and fitness tests."

Forty were in the frame. She came so close to making the final cut. "I made it to the last five before I got kicked out," she recalled. "But it's something I'd love to get into in the future."

Instead, she will don a Lycra suit of a different cut this morning and head for the less gladiatorial surroundings of Wishaw. Rodger will captain the West of Scotland in the inaugural Inter-Regional Championships, an event that is the brainchild of former Olympic medallist Yvonne Murray. Its aim is to provide young athletes with a competitive outing at the start of the summer, an opportunity to put that winter work to good effect.

"It's such a great idea to get all the athletes together in a team format," she declared. "We don't get a lot of opportunities in Scotland for that. We have next weekend in Loughborough. Other than that we don't get any senior internationals.

|So for us to get together as a group of athletes is good. You're striving to win as a team. So for me, I'm captaining the West of Scotland on my home turf. I want to go out and compete well. There are a lot of athletes who won't get that chance to be part of a team very often so it will push them to go to a higher standard. And that can only help."

Rodger, who recently travelled for warm-weather training in Portugal with a hand-picked Scottish group, has seen the bar raised since her victory in February in the UK Indoor Championships. "I definitely feel I can build on it," she affirms. "In the past, I always thought: 'I want to be that'. But actually becoming number one makes you want it more. You have to stand and fight for your place. Nothing's guaranteed because there are so many other athletes who can knock you off. You have to stay on your toes all the time. And to do that, you need to get into the top competitions in Europe."

That pathway has proved perennially problematic. To test yourself against the best, you need an invite to the examinations. However proof of past attainment is first required. It is a vicious circle. For the Scot, who set a personal best of 15.88 metres in Birmingham last year, breaking that cycle is doubly difficult in the shot. "My event's not always in the Grand Prix, like in Birmingham or London. It's not a glamour event and there's no one in Britain who's world-class so they won't put it on."

It is in her gift to alter that. Under former Olympic hammer finalist Chris Black, progress has been made. However, there has been additional input from a hypnotherapist, who, Rodger says, can take much of the credit for her British title and for her optimism for the summer ahead.

"She had a discussion with me, about how I was feeling, about where I'd come from and what I wanted to do in my sport, and in work and life generally. Then she'd hypnotise me for an hour. It totally relaxed me. It was brilliant. It's totally changed my career." Television, cotton buds included, can wait.

FACTFILE

NAME: Alison Rodger

DATE OF BIRTH: 29/10/84

AGE: 24

BORN: Glasgow

KEY MOMENT: The indoor season's been key for me, especially when I won the British Championships for the first time back in February. That's the highlight of my career to date.

INSPIRATION: Denise Lewis was always someone I looked up to when I was younger because she could do seven events. Now I tend to look at athletes in other sports. Lance Armstrong is amazing. His book was really inspirational. But I draw inspiration from anybody who is talented.

ASPIRATION: I want to get to the Commonwealth Games final in Delhi next year. After that, it's London 2012 and Glasgow 2014. Those are my three main targets coming up.