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- Brier Reckons Uni And New Coach Helped Him Graduate To World Championships
By Owen Morgan
World Junior Championship-bound 400m runner Joe Brier has praised the work put in by coach Matt Elias to help him gain selection for the Great Britain team.
Brier is one of three Welsh athletes heading for the event in Finland this weekend. He will be joined by Cardiff AAC 1500m runner Jake Heyward and discus thrower James Tomlinson, of Pembrokeshire Harriers.
The Swansea Harrier missed out on individual selection after failing to meet the qualifying standard, but has been chosen as part of the GB 400m relay squad, thanks to some excellent performances this year.
Brier says a huge part of his success this season has been down to the work done with Elias, himself a former Welsh and Great Britain international who competed in the 400m hurdles and the 400 flat at the Olympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
Brier teamed up with Welsh National Performance Centre coach Elias when he went to Cardiff Metropolitan University last September to study Sport Conditioning Rehabilitation and Massage.
The 19-year old said: “Obviously this season’s been amazing. I went to uni in September to Cardiff Met, so I changed coaches to Matt Elias and the amount of work he’s put in with me has been amazing. I just feel a lot stronger and a lot quicker.
“So, yes, this season has been a bit unexpected. I didn’t expect to PB by this much. It’s been really good.”
Brier has knocked over half a second off his personal best since he ran 47.84 at Newham last May. His current PB stands at 47.31, registered in Belgium this May.
Now he is on his way to the World Junior Championships after being selected by the GB team – a call that came as a complete surprise
Brier said: ” I’d forgotten it was selection day when the team was announced. When they called me I picked up my phone and said ‘who’s this’? It was Leon Baptiste, and he said ‘I’ve got some good news for you’ and I was like ‘oh, it’s selection day is it’?
“I thought we weren’t going to have a four by four team but the whole squad has worked so hard to get fast times so it’s paying off now.”
After finishing third in his heat and just missing out on a final place at the British Athletics Championship last week, Brier said his focus was now on being in the best shape possible for Finland.
“I’m just going to keep myself ticking over, I don’t want any niggles or any injuries going into the championships so I’ve just got to enjoy it. We fly out on the 8th so I won’t do too much between now and then.
“We’ve got a relay camp on the 7th at Brunel so that should be good to get all of the boys together for some team bonding and stuff.
“I’ve done loads of four by fours with the Wales team and a few with the GB juniors, so it should be good. I can’t wait. It’s going to the experience of a lifetime.”
Brier will be following in the footsteps of his sister Hannah Brier who competed in the 2016 World Junior Championship in Poland where she finished sixth in the 100m.
The World Junior Championships will be held in Tampere, Finland between July 10 and 15.
