Essex 110m hurdler Sam Bennett is in the best shape of his life as he looks forward to next month’s Commonwealth Games.
The 25-year-old was among 63 athletes added to the England squad on Monday after recently achieving two personal bests.
He clocked 13.45 at a meeting in the Netherlands, then lowered it to 13.41 to win the UK Championship title in Birmingham.
“It’s nice to wear my Basildon vest, but when you put on an England vest and have something else to represent, it’s really special,” he told BBC Essex Sport Extra.
“Going to what feels like a home championship in Scotland is going to be incredible, having people cheering you on even if they don’t know your name.”
Simply standing on the start line in Birmingham was an achievement in itself for Bennett, who suffered a serious knee injury late last year.
“The last nine years have been plagued by injuries… in the last training session before my indoor season started on December 21, I tripped over an obstacle and landed on my knee, a strange random injury.
“I bump into obstacles all the time, but [this time] broke my PCL [posterior cruciate ligament] and practically every part of my knee; It was a 90% tear.
“It meant three months without running, and being a runner who can’t run is a very strange feeling. It gives you a kind of identity crisis and you have to go out and think about what to do with yourself.”
No wonder then that raw emotion took over Bennett as he crossed the line.
“I’ve always had a bit of a mental block with the British champions; I lost there two years ago by 0,0,1 and they only took one person to the Olympics, so you can imagine how difficult the situation was,” he said.
“I knew I had to get out real quick; the guy I was running with [Tade Ojora] It’s an incredible start, so I wanted to get out very quickly; I normally never win as early as before and after the third obstacle course I knew that all I had to do was not fall over the fences, and it was mine to win.
“I was screaming from five or six meters because I knew I had won the race and I was really overcome with emotion.”