Colchester’s Charlie Dobson cannot wait to add to his already rocketing athletics career after learning from the trials and tribulations of elite sport from Winter Olympic legend Lizzy Yarnold.
Dobson, 22, took time out of Loughborough’s elite sports programme to join four other rising athletic stars on a special Zoom mentoring session with former Olympian and double-gold skeleton medallist Yarnold.
The in-depth hour-long session was set up by Entain and SportsAid – who financially support Dobson’s athletics career – with Yarnold’s experience as Britain’s most decorated Winter Olympian forming a golden opportunity for the up-and-coming sportsman.
All five athletes were given the chance to ask a range of questions covering topics such as mental health, preparation and training and Dobson was fascinated by the amount of advice Yarnold had to offer.
The 60m and 100m sprint specialist said: “It was really good to hear stories from the other athletes on the call and to also speak with Lizzy about her career and going to an Olympics.
“One piece of advice I would take away from talking with Lizzy is the fact that throughout everyone’s career, there will be points where you will struggle.
“I’ve been through a couple of them already but, as Lizzy said, it’s just about remembering that we are human and that we do make mistakes, and nothing goes perfectly for everyone – you just have to sit back and take a breather and then you can focus again.”
Fuelled by Entain – owner of Ladbrokes and Coral – and SportsAid’s partnership, Dobson has been able to access funding for training, travel and equipment – something that has proved vital after the struggles of the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite that, Dobson has already smashed his personal best in the 60m this year, clocking a blistering 6.59 at Birmingham’s Muller Indoor Grand Prix in February, finishing fifth behind the Tokyo bronze medallist and 200m World Champion Noah Lyles.
And he 2020 BUCS Champion is hopeful for his future in the long-run, thanks to Yarnold’s advice.
“We’ve got three major championships this year – the World’s first, the Commonwealth and the Europeans,” Dobson explained.
“My target is to do the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games.
“Running in Birmingham at the Commonwealth Games would be so awesome and running in front of my home crowd too would be pretty cool.
“SportsAid has been really useful for me and I'm really looking forward to getting to Paris in two years' time. I have really high expectations for myself in terms of getting there and I'm looking forward to the challenge of seeing what I can do with SportsAid’s help.”
Dobson was joined on the Zoom mentoring session by fellow aspiring athletes Will Bell, Caitlin Burgess, Taia Tunstall and Bethany Moule, who are also supported by Entain and SportsAid’s innovative partnership.
And Dobson revelled in absorbing Yarnold’s eminent insight, who soared to skeleton Olympic glory at Sochi and PyeongChang, and Yarnold said: “It was lovely to be in that virtual space together with the young athletes. Listening to all their accolades and when they are in their career so young was brilliant.
“The lessons I learnt in sport and athletics helped me in knowing this mad sport, skeleton, and being a young athlete is really overwhelming – which I learnt when I started skeleton at 18.
“Hopefully it gave them a bit of an idea of the mentality and physicality of it all.
“My main bit of advice was that consistency is key - motivation is awesome, but consistency and turning up will keep you going when motivation is low.”
Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, is proud to be championing the next generation of British sporting heroes by providing talented young athletes with financial support and personal development opportunities in partnership with SportsAid. Visit entaingroup.com to find out more.
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