After inspiring thousands of veterans around the world at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Jo Pavey has not ruled out the idea of competing at the next Games in 2018.
This comes after her heroic exploits in the 5,000m Commonwealth final, where she snatched a bronze medal in one of the most entertaining races of the whole championships.
Whilst this is a huge achievement in itself, it may surprise many to reveal that Jo Pavey is 40 years of age, and would be 44 at the next Commonwealth Games in Australia.
Even though most of her childhood rivals may have hung their spikes, Pavey seems to be hitting her ultimate form. Coming off the back of a 2012 European silver medal, and now a Commonwealth bronze, Pavey must find herself in a strange position when it comes to retirement planning.
With reference to the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Pavey explained to the BBC: “I am going to be quite old by then, but I’m not ruling anything out at this stage, it would have to work for us as a family – and I’ve got to qualify.”
The main conflict may be managing athletics with her family life, after giving birth to her daughter Emily in 2013. To add to this surreal picture, Pavey was still breast feeding her daughter in April of this year.
The season does not end here for the bionic woman from Devon though, as the European Athletics Championships loom.
“A lot of my rivals, having not done the Commonwealth Games, are going to be potentially fresher and will be able to put in the training they want to nearer the race.
“I’m trying to balance recovery, but also get some training in, and that’s quite a difficult balance in order to get ready for that championship.”
Pavey will be bidding for gold in Zurich and will potentially race both the 5,000m and 10,000m at the Championships, something the mum of two has not yet achieved before.
