By Joseph Saunders, Sportsbeat
Fresh from a Commonwealth Games silver medal he ‘wasn’t meant to get’, 400m hurdler Jake Minshull is eyeing further success at this month’s European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
The 21-year-old flew down the home straight in the Glasgow gloom to clinch a shock silver behind Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel and bolster Team England's bumper athletics medal haul.
Now Coventry-born Minshull is aiming to exceed expectations again at the Alexander Stadium, where he trains three days a week as a student at the University of Birmingham, alongside his human sciences degree.
He said: “It pretty much feels like a home event, and it feels like I know the place well. I know what the weather is going to be like there. I'm ready for it.
“In my second year [of university], I was finding it quite full on with all the training and found myself running from one thing to the other, so I split my third year.
“I'm organised and I do quite well in putting certain efforts in one bit and then applying myself in another section. It probably takes a certain type of person to do both to a high level.”
That efficiency and dedication have borne fruit this year. In January, Minshull held off former world indoor champion Alexander Doom in a flat 400m race in Glasgow, knocking a second off his personal best in the process.
And his Commonwealth silver back in Glasgow may prove a defining moment in Minshull’s burgeoning career.
He said: “It was surreal. I've been training for moments like that and to get one is special. In my head I thought I could get a medal, but there's a bit of a difference between thinking it and then actually doing it.
“It's given me a big confidence boost ready for Europeans. I want to get a few more moments like that. I wasn't meant to get a medal at Commonwealths, so let’s see if we can do the same at Euros.”
Fellow Brits Joshua Faulds and Seamus Derbyshire will hope to be buoyed by a 40,000-strong home crowd, while Alastair Chalmers and Minshull are set to move straight into the semi-finals thanks to their faster season best.
Chief among his rivals will be Germany’s Emil Agyekum and Norway’s Olympic champion and world record holder Karsten Warholm.
Minshull said: “It's a stacked field. It's mad how many guys there are in this event at the time. The obvious one to look at is Karsten. I like to think that I'm a similar athlete to him in the way that our stride patterns work and how we attack a race. It would be cool if I could race him.”
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