Tom Gibson, with Olympic sprinter Jason Gardener

Young Wiltshire pole-vaulter Tom Gibson has received a masterclass in hard work from Britain's Olympic gold medal sprinter Jason Gardener.

Gardener was offering advice and inspiration to a selection of the best young athletes (aged from 13 to 15) from around England in the latest Sainsbury's Futures seminar.

As part of the day the Olympic gold medal winner put his young charges through a gruelling strength and conditioning session, designed to illustrate just how hard any track and field hopeful needs to work to make it to the top.

Gardener said: "Today's Sainsbury's Futures Seminar offered me a chance to encourage and offer advice to some of our most talented young athletes in England. I am keen to reinforce that talent alone will only get you so far in athletics. If you want to be the best you will need to work extremely hard and never give up in chasing your goal.

"There is no doubt that Tom has the talent to do that, but what I'm trying to give them is an insight into what they need to do to take it to the next level."

The event took place in the state-of-the-art facilities at Loughborough University and also gave a group of the most talented prospects from within the ESAA system, the opportunity to learn about the psychology of sport, lifestyle and nutrition.

Dr Caroline Douglas, sports psychologist at the Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Leeds, says the day provides young athletes with a great experience of linking up their physical training with mental conditioning.

"Today we have focussed on goal setting and planning for the upcoming English School Championships, they will have learnt practical skills that they can start using straight away. We will then meet up at the end of the season to review their progress," she said.

Also on hand at the seminar was current GB international and Newham and Essex Beagles pole vaulter, Steve Lewis, currently ranked number one in the UK and one of the country's best prospects for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

He said: "Today has been great fun, these young athletes are at a critical age to make or break their careers. Hopefully meeting Jason and myself will inspire them to use the information on offer today and go and succeed in their chosen fields."

As part of its' Active Kids schools programme, Sainsbury's is supporting the English Schools Athletics Association at all levels and has asked Gardener to advise some of England's most promising young athletes on how to make it to the very top.

Gibson said: "I enjoyed a really positive seminar today sharing a great physical session with similarly talented athletes. To have Steve on hand to offer me his technical experience was amazing."

5:57am Sunday 4th May 2008

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