Monaco is the last stop for 6 GB athletes on their journey to the Olympic games & as well as a good opportunity to evaluate where they are in relation to their competition two weeks out, this is also proving to be a great escape from both the rainy British weather, as well as the tension that is slowly building back in the UK. In fact, I am not sure stress & tension are emotions that people in this part of the world like to acknowledge.
This is now the fourth time I have been to Monaco & with each visit, the time between consecutive Ferrari sightings seems to decrease. In fact, whilst eating supper with Fuzz (Ahmed, the high jump coach) & his friend/agent, Daniel, we counted over 25 Ferraris pull up outside the bar next door…not to mention the Bugatti Veyron & numerous Rolls Royces. It appears “Prancing Horse” engineering is painfully common in these parts.
For those of you that follow Formula 1 motor racing, you would have been impressed with my morning treatment room. The meet hotel is the famous Fairmont Hotel, which perches on the famous Fairmont corner on the descent down from Casino Square & a couple of the athletes were sharing a room with a balcony that directly overlooked, probably the most famous section of road in the World. Until my arrival, the location hadn’t appeared anything out of the ordinary to either of them & there was much confusion as to why all the tourists were stopping to take so many photos. However, once explained, the request was for the soft tissue work to be conducted on the balcony to make the most of the view. Hey, I’m just here to keep the athletes fit, healthy & happy!!!
So after just having finished lunch, overlooking some rather pricey examples of aquatic transport, I am now going to get organised & ready for the meet tonight. Robbie (Grabarz) is competing in a strong field in the high jump; Chris (Tomlinson) is working his way back to form in the long jump; Andrew (Osagie) races in the 800m; Marilyn (Okoro) competes in the women’s version; Martyn (Rooney) takes on the Borlee twins in the 400m & Holly (Bleasdale) takes on a field in the pole vault that will potentially only be a couple of names different from the Olympic final.
