Kelly Sotherton waits on Olympic call
Kelly Sotherton feels she must make Team GB's 2012 Olympic squad – because she missed out on tickets.
Kelly Sotherton feels she must make Team GB's 2012 Olympic squad – because she missed out on tickets.
The Birchfield Harrier is targeting a spot in the relay team for London next year after swapping the heptathlon for the 400m.
Sotherton is planning to retire next September and wants to sign off after the London Games following a heptathlon gold medal in the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Despite her hopes of making Team GB, she applied for tickets but was one of the thousands left empty-handed by the much-criticised system.
And it has given her extra drive to add to the bronze she won in the 2004 Athens Games.
She said: "Hopefully I'll be successful in going to the Olympics because I haven't got any tickets!
"I went for triple jump tickets, the prelims and the final, I even went for the high-end ones but unfortunately I wasn't lucky.
"It's one the reasons why I've got to make the team! I will crawl in somewhere, I'm sure I will.
"If tickets were first come, first served people would still have been disappointed so there is never a fair way.
"I always say you can still get tickets next year, though. People will have bought them and then might not be able to use them.
"My parents never had a problem with Athens and Beijing.
"People will be able to get them next year."
After a host of heel and back injuries Sotherton opted to ditch the punishing heptathlon for the 400m at the turn of the year.
But she will miss Sunday's Birmingham Grand Prix at Alexander Stadium – her home track – as she feels her way into her sole event.
The newly revamped stadium is primed for a 12,700 sell out, with home favourite Louise Hazel and Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell set to compete, and Sotherton is happy with her call.
She said: "The Diamond League is a world class event and I'm not at that stage yet. In the 400m, eight of the world's top 10 are there so that's like a world championship final.
"Every event is full of world class athletes so I have to understand I'm not quite there. It's what Birmingham and the meet needs, so hopefully a lot of successful performances come from Sunday.
"Birmingham is a world class city and now we have a world class athletics stadium.
"It's only going to help to bring the best athletes here."
