Snaith staying positive

With better luck Ben Snaith would have a European Athletics Championships silver medal hanging around his neck right now.

The Reach-based athlete had made appearing at the Championships in Berlin one of his major goals for the 2018 season after helping Great Britain’s 4x400m relay team to clinch gold at the European Under-23 Athletics Championships 12 months ago.

However, while the British quartet of Rabah Yousif, Dwayne Cowan, Matthew Hudson-Smith and Martyn Rooney finished runners-up in the 4x400m relay final in the German capital last week, Snaith was reduced to a watching role back home.

Snaith is confident he headed into this year capable of securing the qualifying time to make the squad, but illness and misfortune has cost him dearly.

“I have just been very unlucky at crucial moments,” said the 22-year-old, who trains with Mick Graham at Newmarket Leisure Centre.

“I had flu at a big moment in winter training, which set me back, and after that you are playing catch up.

“And then just before the British trials for the Europeans, I had a wisdom tooth come through and was on antibiotics.

“It is hard when you get to a good level and know you are ready to push on, especially because the time I ran last year was fast enough to go to the Euros. But the relay is also a team event, and that is what has to come first.

“I know a lot of the guys personally and while it would have been great to be there, ultimately they have gone faster than me this year.”

While disappointed to have missed out on this particular occasion, the former Bottisham Village College student is not allowing it to dampen his enthusiasm for the sport.

Looking ahead to 2019 he has the World Athletics Championships in Doha on his radar, believing that better times are just around the corner.

“You have to bounce back from these sort of things,” added Snaith, who was due to represent an England team in the relay at an event in Manchester yesterday.

“Nothing is permanent, you have to keep fighting and getting through it.

“I want to go to the World Champs in the relay – that is my main target for next year.

“I will sit down soon and work out what has gone wrong in 2018 and how we can prevent that from happening again. Next year is a big year for me.”