Woods set for Finland experience
By Elizabeth Hudson
Blackpool teenager Shelly Woods heads to Finland next week looking to build on the huge impact she has made in the world of wheelchair racing this season.
The 19-year-old has finished second in the London Marathon and the Great Manchester Run and set a British record in the 5,000m.
Now Woods is ready for her next major test at the IPC Open European Championships, which begin on Monday.
The teenager will make her senior international debut in the T54 1500 and 5,000m races against some world-class opponents.
"It will be a good experience for me to compete in Finland just to see how a major championship like that is run and to have a chance of racing against top athletes," she said.
"It's a great achievement for me to have been selected on the team and I'm hoping to push well. I know I can go faster when I am up against the top racers in the world.
"For the past two years I've been chasing the top athletes and now I feel I can be competitive.
"It's very much a stepping stone for me and hopefully it will help me build towards being up there with the best next season and aim towards Beijing."
The teenager fell from a tree in 1997 and, after discovering wheelchair basketball as part of her rehabilitation, she then took up wheelchair racing.
Now she is setting her sights on taking over Dame Tanni Grey Thompson's mantle as Great Britain's next star.
Her second-placed finish behind Italian Francesca Porcellato at the London Marathon, her first time over the 26.2 miles, marked her out as one to watch.
"I was worried about getting through the whole distance as it was my first full marathon and I was quite nervous," she admitted.
"I knew I had to get onto the pace of the leading racers quickly because if I didn't I would just be left behind.
"The last two miles of the course were amazing. There is such a special atmosphere on the Mall and the support you get from the crowd is special.
"I certainly wasn't expecting to be in a sprint finish at the end. Francesca is a really tough competitor and hopefully in time I could beat her on the road."
In Finland, Woods will come up against four-times Athens champion Chantal Petitclerc and is full of admiration for the Canadian.
"I trained with Chantal for a week earlier this season and it was a great experience for me," she said.
"If I can learn from her, I know I am doing it right. The tactics she used in her races in Athens were perfect and I've got a lot to learn about race tactics, and that is something I am working on all the time."