Meadows named as Great Britain team captain for World Indoors

JENNY Meadows has been named as Great Britain captain for next weekend's World Indoor Championships in Doha.

LEADING THE WAY: Jenny Meadows will lead the Great Britain squad at the World Indoor Championships in Doha, having become 800m indoor British record holder in February (Getty Images)

The 28-year old enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2009, capturing her first major medal with 800m bronze at the World Championships in Berlin.

Meadows has started the new season in a similar vein of form, smashing Kelly Holmes' seven-year old indoor 800m record to win at the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham.

And having been named as captain of the 38-strong British squad by UK Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee, Meadows admitted it was a timely confidence boost for the championships which start on March 12.

"It's a huge pat on the back and hopefully I can lead by example," said Meadows.

"There have been some fantastic people who have been team captain before and they have never let the team down.

"Hopefully I can do the same."

While she deals with the responsibility of leading the British team, Meadows will also have to cope with the weighty expectation of being a medal contender in Doha.

The Wigan athlete's British record of 1:59.11 minutes in Birmingham means she is the second fastest in the world this season behind Russia's Yevgeniya Zinurova.

And Meadows admits she's struggling to get used to the increased media attention ahead of the championships.

"All of a sudden, three weeks before Doha, everyone was saying that Jenny has the record and that she is a medal hope," said Meadows, who finished fifth at the last World Indoor Championships in Valencia two years ago.

"It's strange going into championships with those things written about you.

"I am in the perfect position where I want to be and it is important that I see it not as pressure but as support for me, rather than something that becomes a stressful thing.

"It helps to have that experience behind me now that I'm coming into the best form ever.

"Good or bad, I'm very grateful of the successes and the failures in the past."

Aviva has been proud to have helped and supported the Aviva GB & NI junior, senior and disability teams as they prepare for all major events and championships since 1999. Visit www.aviva.co.uk/athletics for more information