‘My new training partner is a 5kg fluffy white ball’ – Meghan Beesley
Meghan Beesley, Loughborough University’s 400m hurdler, has found a new training partner during the Covid-19 outbreak – in the form of a four-legged friend.
Beesley competes in the 400m hurdles prior to the coronavirus outbreak. Photography: Stillsport.com
Speaking as part of Loughborough University’s #TrainatHome campaign, Beesley explained how her canine companion Coco is keeping the Olympic hopeful fit and healthy during the lockdown period.
“I’ve mostly training around the fields by my house with my little dog - a 5kg fluffy white ball. She’s been getting in my training programme with me, doing hills together and running alongside the cricket pitch,” she explained.
“She absolutely loves it and I’ve never seen her so happy. She’ll be darting to and from, and even when I’m walking back, she’s wanting to run. It’s been really motivating to have someone there and when she gets tired, she has a lie down too!”
Meghan also explained how her coach has helped channel her focus and preparation for what would have been an Olympic year:
“My coach has been really good about the situation and not made it stressful at all, he said, ‘what equipment do you have?’ and we’ve worked around that. I have a water tube which goes up to 10kg and I’ve got two medicine balls and some resistance bands.
“You’d think you can only train at a gym, but you can do all these things at home. I also know that being here before through injury, you can come back and enjoy next year even more as you’ve had it temporarily taken away from you.”
Loughborough University’s #TrainatHome campaign looks at how its elite level athletes are adapting their training schedules during the coronavirus outbreak. With new content and interviews released every few days, athlete videos can be downloaded in full by visiting HERE.
Notes for editors
Press release reference number: 20/69
Loughborough University is equipped with a live in-house broadcast unit via the Globelynx network. To arrange an interview with one of our experts please contact the press office on 01509 223491. Bookings can be made online via www.globelynx.com
Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.
It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2019 QS World University Rankings, University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2019 and top in the country for its student experience in the 2018 THE Student Experience Survey.
Loughborough is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 4th in the Guardian University League Table 2020, 5th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019 and 8th in The UK Complete University Guide 2020.
Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.
The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.
Meghan Beesley, Loughborough University’s 400m hurdler, has found a new training partner during the Covid-19 outbreak – in the form of a four-legged friend.
Beesley competes in the 400m hurdles prior to the coronavirus outbreak. Photography: Stillsport.com
Speaking as part of Loughborough University’s #TrainatHome campaign, Beesley explained how her canine companion Coco is keeping the Olympic hopeful fit and healthy during the lockdown period.
“I’ve mostly training around the fields by my house with my little dog - a 5kg fluffy white ball. She’s been getting in my training programme with me, doing hills together and running alongside the cricket pitch,” she explained.
“She absolutely loves it and I’ve never seen her so happy. She’ll be darting to and from, and even when I’m walking back, she’s wanting to run. It’s been really motivating to have someone there and when she gets tired, she has a lie down too!”
Meghan also explained how her coach has helped channel her focus and preparation for what would have been an Olympic year:
“My coach has been really good about the situation and not made it stressful at all, he said, ‘what equipment do you have?’ and we’ve worked around that. I have a water tube which goes up to 10kg and I’ve got two medicine balls and some resistance bands.
“You’d think you can only train at a gym, but you can do all these things at home. I also know that being here before through injury, you can come back and enjoy next year even more as you’ve had it temporarily taken away from you.”
Loughborough University’s #TrainatHome campaign looks at how its elite level athletes are adapting their training schedules during the coronavirus outbreak. With new content and interviews released every few days, athlete videos can be downloaded in full by visiting HERE.
Notes for editors
Press release reference number: 20/69
Loughborough University is equipped with a live in-house broadcast unit via the Globelynx network. To arrange an interview with one of our experts please contact the press office on 01509 223491. Bookings can be made online via www.globelynx.com
Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.
It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2019 QS World University Rankings, University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2019 and top in the country for its student experience in the 2018 THE Student Experience Survey.
Loughborough is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 4th in the Guardian University League Table 2020, 5th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019 and 8th in The UK Complete University Guide 2020.
Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.
The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.
