TWO flights totalling almost 7,000 miles were Emily Dixon’s preparation before making her debut for England, writes Kevin Fahey.

Not the sort of easing down that you would find in any coaching manual but such was 17-year-old Dixon’s excitement at being selected to represent her country for the first time that any negative effects of tiredness or jet-lag were quickly forgotten.

“It was definitely worth it!” said Dixon, whose trip home included one international overnight haul from the Far East and then a domestic transfer.

“I was a little tired but it didn’t turn out too badly for me in the end as I finished second overall and helped England win team gold.

“It was a fantastic experience.”

Dixon had been in Malaysia on a school trip with St Augustine’s Catholic College, in Trowbridge, that had been planned and paid for long before the invite to represent England in the Home Countries Indoor Multi Events International at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow came through.

Dixon didn’t want to miss either event so special arrangements were made to get her home in time for the fixture in Scotland.

“The other students in the trip weren’t flying home until Sunday but I flew home on my own overnight on Thursday and got back into London Heathrow at 5am on Friday,” explained Dixon.

“My mum picked me up and took me home to Frome and then we caught a flight from Bristol to Glasgow later that day.

“There was a team meeting to attend and I felt a bit tired by 6pm as it was 2am in the morning in Malaysia.”

But after a good night’s sleep Dixon was ready for action and she certainly rose to the occasion scoring 3,317 points to finish just 28 points behind the winner and England teammate, Olivia Montez-Brown.

Dixon’s individual performances were shot 9.83m (518 points), 60m hurdles 9.11 secs (887), long jump 4.93m (540), high jump 1.63m (771), which was a season's best and finally the 800m in 2:37.56 (601).

“The big difference between me and Olivia was the long jump as she took 150 points out of me,” added Dixon.

“That was a bit annoying as I had two no jumps and a couple of other events didn’t go as well as I had hoped but overall I have to be happy with second and helping England win the team gold.

“I was very proud to win my first England vest and hopefully it won’t be my last.”