Sayers targets Commonwealth gold after season from hell

By George Scott, Sportsbeat

GOLDIE Sayers insists she is not one to dwell on failure after a season to forget - and is already targeting Commonwealth gold in Delhi.

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS: Goldie Sayers believes she can reach new heights at next year's European Championships and Commonwealth Games (Getty Images)

Sayers became the first British woman to throw over 65m - since javelins were redesigned - in May 2007.

The Belgrave Harrier went on to set another British record of 65.75m to secure fourth at the Olympic Games in Beijing - just 38cm off bronze.

But an injury-ravaged 2009 saw Sayers put her body on the line at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin - where a mark of 58.98m was not enough to qualify for the final.           

And while Sayers admits she should not have made the trip to the German capital , the 27-year-old insists 2010 will be a year to remember.

"My body hasn't been having any of it so it's just a season to just draw a line under really," said Sayers.

"I will sit down with my coach and look at what we need to do.

"I need to get my body healthy for a start and in hindsight I should have rested this season and not done anything with my back.

"But I wanted to compete and the problem with the javelin is that it puts a lot of force through your body.

"I'm not worried about next year, I'm just looking forward to having a rest, drawing a line under this year and moving on.

"It's not a season I can look back on with any great pride apart from getting myself fit again - I just lost a lot of power from being injured.

"I want to be Commonwealth champion, that a big goal for me and the Europeans are basically an Olympics in throwing because javelin is a European event.

"It's good because there will be two major championships and in the javelin we don't get an indoor season.

"I'm looking forward to next year already because this one wasn't one to write home about at all."

Sayers has been single-handedly flying the flag for British throwers since Steve Backley captured his second Olympic silver in Sydney.

But Sayers believes the necessary changes to UK Athletics' structure are being made to develop the champions of tomorrow.

"I think throwing has been neglected in this country for a while but people are starting to be put in place to change that," added Sayers.

"It'd be good to get more kids involved and more people interested in throwing.

"Hopefully things will start to change but we have a lot of catching up to do. Coach education is the most important thing, getting your head round the technicalities of it.

"We need a better structure and have to get more kids involved through a lot of the other events."