For the third time in a year Chris Bennett is being forced to miss his teamās clash with Rangers, but that is the sort of sacrifice the Celtic season ticket holder knows he has to get used to having to make if he is to fulfil his own sporting potential.
As the Glaswegian readily acknowledges he competes in a discipline that has a bit of an image problem, which is misleading because for all that power is a pre-requisite of throwing a hammer so, too, is balance and skill. Watched with an objective eye, it is a rather graceful pursuit, even if the physique of some participants means that can have a tendency to evoke images of Fantasiaās dancing hippos.
That observation is itself a bit risky in light of Bennettās response to a previous description of his sport offered by an old favourite of his.
āIām still waiting for the day I can chin Paul Lambert about his comment that his team arenāt 20 stone hammer throwersā¦ People just donāt understand,ā he laments.
āMiss Trunchbull from Matilda is the most famous hammer thrower around and thatās peopleās perception of it until they see it and realise the skill involved in throwing a 16 pound ball out of a metal cage.ā
All of which is delivered with enormous good humour and in reality he is the first to recognise that if anyone needed to take his sport a bit more seriously it was the 27-year-old himself. Or at least he needed to find ways of working more effectively towards making the best of his ability, albeit there was a while when he was not receiving the sort of help he should have been.
It was an extraordinary state of affairs which meant there was a period when Bennett had nowhere to train properly in the city that had made such play of having hosted a major sports event, but he is grateful to those who addressed that.
āBefore the European Championships and the Olympics there was a point when I couldnāt train in Glasgow. I had to go to Lanarkshire or Renfrewshire. Thankfully Glasgow Life sorted it out, so I can train at Crownpoint and The Emirates,ā he explained.
Bennett has also undergone a major re-think of his approach to that training, taking on board what he has learned at major championships as he goes into a new competitive season which gets underway at the European Throwing Cup in Gran Canaria this weekend and that includes a bitter-sweet experience at what he had hoped would be a career highlight.
ā2014 was a stepping stone,ā says Bennett.
āIt didnāt go as well for me as it could. I lost my dad (George) and my coach (Alan Bertram) in the 18 months before the Commonwealth Games. The two things I wanted was for them to be there to see me and to win a medal and I messed that up too. It was the worst night and the best night of my life because I finished dead last in the final, but I vowed I would never make that mistake again. This was the one chance I had to compete in a home games and I messed it up.ā
While, then, Bennett has been identified as possessing the capacity to compete for Great Britain at the highest level after he and coach Mick Jones outlined how they intend to take him from last yearās 19th place finish at an Olympics he never expected to go to, his biggest target in the shorter term is to win for Scotland.
āIām funded towards 2024, but my main aim from now is the Gold Coast,ā he said. āItās a big bug-bear of mine that I didnāt do well in Glasgow so thatās the reason Iām focusing on the Commonwealth Games. So the question is how do I get from where I am now to where I want to be in Tokyo and working back from that Iāve got goals for 2019, 2018, this year.
āI would like to be judged on my competition results rather than how far I throw. I would be very disappointed if I didnāt a) get to the final at the Worlds in London this year and b) get a medal at the Gold Coast. Iām only going to the Gold Coast for gold. Iām trying to get away from the word failure but anything other than is not what I want.ā
Central to achieving that is a fundamental change of approach which means, starting tomorrow when the hammer competition gets underway at the European Throwing Cup, spending more time in the company of those he previously regarded as untouchable.
āUntil youāre in that environment you believe everyone is better than you. For me going to the Olympics, I didnāt feel deserving that I should have been there,ā Bennett explained.
āThat was my own personal feeling because I couldnāt get my head around the fact that these guys Iād been watching on the TV four years ago I was now competing against, while Iām now on teams with the likes of Mo Farah and I couldnāt comprehend that. However looking back for me the thing was that I realised I wasnāt that far away from hammer throwers I perceived as super human so whatās going to stop me in four yearsā time being one of those who are looking to win medals?ā
And if he does that will it compensate fully for his previous disappointments?
āIt would go a long way,ā he reckoned.
āIt would never, ever fully make up for Glasgow. Iām a Glasgow-boy, Glasgow-born from Drumchapel. However if Iād won a medal in Glasgow I would have been happier at the time, but to flip that I donāt think Iād be where I am now. I wouldnāt have had that drive. Sometimes things are meant to be.ā
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