AUDIO: Seren Bundy Davies’s coach Matt Elias talks to Rob Cole.
By Rob Cole
Seren Bundy Davies eased her way back into competitive athletics as she clocked a time of 54.74 sec in the 400 metres at the Vienna Indoor International meet at the weekend.
The 2016 Rio Olympian hadn’t raced since May last year because of an Achilles injury and used the race to blow away the cobwebs as she attempts to pick up the Commonwealth Games A standard time of 51.50 sec required to take up her allocated place for the Gold Coast.
If it wasn’t quite as quick as her coach Matt Elias was hoping for, it was still a very useful work out as she looks to rebuild her track career after missing almost six months of training and the whole of the last summer season.
“It has been a long road back. She missed the best part of six months training with a tear at the top of her Achilles tendon, but thankfully she has been given the opportunity to get the time required to go to the Gold Coast,” said Elias.
“It is the start of the journey for me and Seren as I only started coaching her in September. She is back to full fitness, training fully, but we are not looking to push her too quickly in the indoor season.
“Vienna was just a first run out and we were hoping for something between 52.5 and 53.5 sec, but we have to be realistic coming off an injury. Our main goal is to get her running at her best for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
“We need to build her up slowly and avoid causing any more damage. She is an absolute animal in training and the motivation is certainly there.
“All great athletes have to go through some adversity and that’s what she has been going through recently. It will take a little bit of time to rebuild her pace judgement and her confidence.”
Bundy-Davies ran a time of 51.60 sec in Vienna in 2016 at the start of a year that saw her run a personal best time of 51.26 sec outdoors and qualify for the Olympic Games. The previous year she picked up five medals in a GB vest.
Her race in Vienna meant she missed out on the Welsh Indoor Championships, where the majority of the 21 Welsh athletes selected for the Gold Coast were on parade.
Ben Gregory won the Welsh Indoor pole vault title with a clearance of 5.01 metres, and Sally Peake retained her women’s crown with a height of 4.27 metres. Ieuan Thomas took the 1500 metres crown in a time of 3.53.89 with fellow Team Wales steeplechaser Jon Hopkins in third in 3.56.49.
Tom Marshall maintain his great form in January with an 800 metre victory in a leisurely 1.55.19