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Centre Stage for Soni

by David Charnely

With not long to go now until thousands of athletes will be showcasing what they can do on the world’s biggest stage, one American athlete has already landed in London Town.

Olympic Gold medallist Rebecca Soni was centre stage at a meet and greet event hosted by The University of East London, in conjunction with ‘BritainBound’ -a scheme set up to raise awareness for Team USA.

When the Olympics finally get underway for the much anticipated 2012 summer games, Team USA are in partnership with The University of East London, where the campus will put up thousands of Athletes and press alike.

Soni set the world alight in the Beijing games, when she won a gold medal in the 200 metres and two silvers in the 100 and the relay.

The success in the 100 metres came as a surprise, as it was an event that she wasn’t even meant to be involved in. Her qualifying times meant that she wasn’t picked for the event, but an unexpected pull out meant that she was drafted in.

The 24-year old Swimming Queen spoke that this was perhaps a reason for her success, with no pressure on her back she was able to dive in the pool and let her breast-stroke do the talking. This time it will be all different, and will have the whole world watching what she can do.

Before Soni spoke she was introduced by the Vice Chancellor Patrick McGhee, who described how delighted he is to have not the only Team USA, the Paralympic team and Team Singapore staying on campus, which should help raise the profile of The University of East London, and make the University the top Uni in London for sport.

Its not only the American athletes that will benefit from what the University has put in place, surroundings areas will also benefit from using some of the top facilities in the world.

Being able to meet one of the success stories that that has come from the Olympic Games was such an honour, and its only going to be a taster for what we have in store next summer.

Soni described what it actually felt like to achieve a life time dream “ It felt great when I won the medal, I wasn’t expecting it, everyone was racing for second place, it was truly amazing, going in as reigning champion will be a totally different atmosphere, it will be a lot harder, with everyone looking at me, try not to worry about it and just focus on what I need to do.”

Soni is looking forward to participating in the event next year, and was briefly shown the Olympic stadium which she was shown and certainly wetted her appetite for success when the games kick of into action.

Listening to an Olpmpic Gold medallist, you get the idea of how much work and dedication needs to be put in. 6 hours of training everyday is a must, with Sunday excused for a day of rest. During the week there is certainly no time for rest, as having endured a ten hour flight over from The States, and having only briefly touched down, Soni was straight into the pool for some training before attending this press conference.

Its not long now until Soni will be back on the Brittish shores, this time with a lot more at stake, she will be hoping that all the hours spent on training will pay as she looks to win another gold medal.