Cardiff
based, Tom Smith is currently competing at the 22nd Deaflympics in Sofia,
Bulgaria. Disability Sport Wales has provided financial support to Tom and
another Welsh athlete, Emily Noden. Tom gives us an insight to his time at the
Deaflympics so far.
Opening Ceremony! It was nice to get out of
the hotel for a little bit and spend quality time with the team and see some
friends from other nations. I left early as I wanted to chill and get some down
time before the sprint the following morning. It’s not my best event but went
into it as prepared as I could be. I qualified in 8th place in the 200m time
trial. Got through the first round comfortably and then had a good battle with
the German- Holger Kleefus. It was close on the line! After seeing that the
explosiveness wasn’t going to match the other guys, I decided to surprise and
go for a long one in the 5th-8th final. It paid off!
Having done a lot of hard road races in Belgium this year meant that I didn’t get the time to work on the explosiveness or acceleration from a slow speed. The top end is there which I am happy about, so will be putting that to good use on Wednesday at the road race. I had a recon of the course and it looks interesting. It will be more interesting being a sole rider when all the other countries have big teams. We shall see! Check out the tumblr link for brief photos of the sprint, and also check out my follow Welsh mate Emily Noden who is competing in the swimming events. Rising star! Watch her for the future! I will send you a further update soon.
Having done a lot of hard road races in Belgium this year meant that I didn’t get the time to work on the explosiveness or acceleration from a slow speed. The top end is there which I am happy about, so will be putting that to good use on Wednesday at the road race. I had a recon of the course and it looks interesting. It will be more interesting being a sole rider when all the other countries have big teams. We shall see! Check out the tumblr link for brief photos of the sprint, and also check out my follow Welsh mate Emily Noden who is competing in the swimming events. Rising star! Watch her for the future! I will send you a further update soon.
