OLYMPIC SOLIDARITY A HELPING HAND O LYM P I C R EVI E W CATCHES UP WITH TWO ATHLETES WHO HAVE RECEIVED FUNDING AS PART OF THE CURRENT OLYMPIC SOLIDARITY PROGRAMME 64 OLYMPIC REVIEW JANUARY-FEBRUARY-MARCH 2015 NUMBER 94 OLY070_P0064EDeng.indd 64 13/03/2015 10:34 OLYMPIC SOLIDARIT Y INTERVIEW LESLIE COPELAND AFTER NARROWLY MISSING THE OLYMPIC FINAL AT LONDON 2012, FIJIAN JAVELIN THROWER LESLIE COPELAND HAS HIS SIGHTS SET ON GOING ONE STEP FURTHER IN RIO IN 2016 When did you first throw a javelin? in the London 2012 Olympic Games and finishing 13th overall. I first threw a javelin at the age of 14. It was also the first time that I ever Do you think you can go one step saw a javelin. further at Rio 2016 and reach the final? Did you enjoy other athletics events My goal is to go one step better and make and sports growing up? my country proud. I love sports and I took part in several In what ways does the Olympic while growing up, including rugby, outrigger Solidarity grant help you? canoeing and archery. In athletics I also enjoyed and participated in the shot put Financial support is hard to come by in Fiji, and I would often run the 400m during our especially with athletics being considered sports day at high school. a minority sport. The Olympic Solidarity support takes the load off my shoulders What did it mean to you to represent and gives me access to training venues, Fiji at the London 2012 Olympic Games? coaching and competitions abroad. It was a dream come true. To represent my How important is this funding? country at the highest level was humbling and I will cherish it for the rest of my life. It is very important. To participate at a high level requires a lot of funding. How special would it be to compete at Without funding it would be very the Olympic Games for a second time? difficult to train at the required level for an Olympic athlete. It has always been an honour to represent my country and will always What are your main targets for 2015? remain that way. To go to the Olympic Games for a second time would be a My main target is to qualify for the great achievement for me and also for upcoming Olympic Games. athletics in my country. Who is your athletics hero and why? Pictured You have won the Oceania Leslie Championships four times. Is this Jan Železný [Czech three-time Copeland is your proudest achievement? Olympic javelin champion]. He was benefitting technically the best when it came from the The Oceania Championships are to throwing the javelin and was also support of limited to the Pacific countries only. regarded as a very hard-working Olympic My proudest achievement is competing athlete. His results speak volumes. Solidarity JANUARY-FEBRUARY-MARCH 2015 NUMBER 94 OLYMPIC REVIEW 65 OLY070_P0064EDeng.indd 65 13/03/2015 10:34 OLYMPIC SOLIDARITY INTERVIEW CHLOE MAGEE AFTER MAKING HER OLYMPIC DEBUT IN 2008, IRELAND’S CHLOE MAGEE IS HOPING TO REPRESENT HER COUNTRY IN A THIRD CONSECUTIVE GAMES AT RIO IN 2016 How will the Olympic Solidarity grant What are the main differences between help you with qualification? singles and doubles? I know how much an Olympic qualifying Singles and doubles are very different year takes out of you, but this time I will games. In the mixed doubles it’s fast and try to qualify in the mixed doubles with my very tactical. The man has to be a lot more brother Sam [as well as the singles]. Mixed physical from the back of the court and doubles qualification has even bigger the woman has to be confident and create demands than singles qualification, as a lot from the front. In singles, you’re out only the top 16 pairs in the world will go to there all by yourself; being physically Rio. Travelling to events without a coach and mentally strong is so important. The has been a big problem for us and we are tactical side to both events is so important hoping this grant will be able to help a little with a lot of time spent watching games towards that. over and over again. How important is it for you to receive Do you enjoy playing on the same team funding? as your brother? Without this funding, I think it would be I’ve always really enjoyed playing with Sam. impossible for us to think about qualifying I think we bring out the best in each other. for Rio. To compete with the best in the It’s been tough for Sam, as for a long time world you need a lot of quality training I concentrated more on the singles event, and that doesn’t come without a price. but now it’s definitely changed and over Badminton has so many different parts to the last year you can see that with the big it – technical, tactical, physical and mental. improvement in our ranking. I don’t think any part of it can be left out at Pictured the top level. Chloe Magee ‘WITHOUT THIS FUNDING, How did you feel when you became aims to I THINK IT WOULD BE the first Irish woman to win an Olympic Did you always want to be a compete in IMPOSSIBLE TO THINK badminton match at Beijing in 2008? badminton player? the badminton ABOUT QUALIFYING FOR RIO. TO COMPETE WITH THE BEST singles and YOU NEED A LOT OF QUALITY It was a proud moment as I didn’t ever I loved badminton from a young age mixed doubles TRAINING AND THAT DOESN’T believe I could qualify for Beijing. When I but struggled a lot with my confidence at Rio 2016 COME WITHOUT A PRICE’ qualified for Beijing at a young age it was at the start when badminton became such a great boost for my career. Then to my career and not just a hobby anymore. win my first-round match there was a very Everyone has doubts, but having good special moment. It gave me the motivation people around me made me push to push on and believe in myself more. through to be able to say I’m now a two-time Olympian. What would it mean to you to compete at the Olympic Games for a third time? What are your hopes for 2015? I’ve had some of the best experiences of There’s a lot coming up in 2015 before I my life at the last two Olympic Games and can even begin to think about Rio. Of to qualify again would be amazing. It would course, all the time Olympic qualifying will really make it all the more special if this be in the back of my mind, but it’s going to time I was going to compete in both the be an exciting year. We will be training very mixed doubles and singles. hard for the European Games in Baku. 66 OLYMPIC REVIEW JANUARY-FEBRUARY-MARCH 2015 NUMBER 94 OLY070_P0066EDeng.indd 66 16/03/2015 16:13 OLYMPIC SOLIDARITY GOLDEN CHANCE O LYM P I C R EVI E W FINDS OUT HOW THE OLYMPIC SOLIDARITY PROGRAMME IS HELPING TWO ATHLETES IN THEIR ATTEMPTS TO QUALIFY FOR RIO IN 2016 66 OLYMPIC REVIEW APRIL-MAY-JUNE 2015 NUMBER 95 OLYMPIC SOLIDARIT Y INTERVIEW COREY OLLIVIERRE GRENADIAN SWIMMER COREY OLLIVIERRE IS DRAWING INSPIRATION FROM THE PERFORMANCES OF COUNTRYMAN KIRANI JAMES AND OTHERS AS HE BIDS TO QUALIFY FOR THE RIO 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES Pictured What would it mean to you to swim in the same events as I do. I also admire Corey Ollivierre for Grenada at Rio 2016? his determination to progress from being is hoping “an almost won the race”-type swimmer to to swim for Representing Grenada at the Olympic becoming a world champion, Olympic Grenada at Games would be unbelievable and a champion and world record holder. the Rio 2016 humbling and proud moment. Being able Olympic to wear those bright colours and represent Do you draw inspiration from your Games my country is a feeling that I wouldn’t Grenadian team-mates such as 400m want to give up that easily. runner Kirani James? How will the Olympic Solidarity Being able to attend the Commonwealth grant help you? Games as an actual team-mate of [athletes] Kirani James, Kurt Felix and Rondell The Olympic Solidarity grant will assist me Bartholomew was an experience that I will in qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympic never forget. To see the way they represent Games and the prerequisite qualifying our country at such a level is an inspiration competitions. It will be used to fund for me, despite the fact that I compete in travel to competitions, and to purchase a different sport. Seeing what Kirani has necessities that will be of value to my been able to achieve as a fellow Grenadian development and improvement. really inspires me to work hard and aspire to fulfil my dreams. What does the funding mean for your training? You competed in butterfly, freestyle and breaststroke events at the 2014 This programme will allow me to train World Swimming Championships. outside of Grenada, which will be very What is your best stroke? beneficial as I will get to train in a high-performance 50m pool. My best stroke is breaststroke. I like the other strokes, but sadly I don’t reach the Did you always want to be a swimmer? same level of performance.