Julie Crane
Welsh high-jumper Julie Crane is determined that her Commonwealth Games career will not end in the tears of frustration that flowed on a Melbourne night three years ago, when a silver medal was no consolation for being denied the chance to go for gold.
It was the classical fi ne line between success and failure as she was judged to have got close enough to the bar before pulling out that it counted as her third attempt. A forceful protest, understandable emotion with feelings running high were not enough o get the judges to reverse the knife-edge decision.
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The combination of a bad back caused by a car crash in 2004, along with a successful career with Virgin Media, could well have seen Crane turn her back on the highest level of international high-jumping – but it took determination to bounce back from injury to reach Melbourne and the same determination means she wants to have the crack at gold the judges denied her then.
Crane's back-bending leap of 1.88m on a steaming hot night at the Melbourne Cricket Ground earned her and Wales a silver medal but gold went to Anika Smit on countback.
The Welsh jumper broke the line of the bar as she pulled out of her third attempt at 1.91m on her run-up, however it was a miracle that Crane managed to reach the podium at all, given that she had suffered a nasty car crash in 2004 that caused her back problems.
But, if the disappointment of losing gold was bad enough, the plane caused a real strain to her back and she landed home in a lot of discomfort.
A few subsequent years riddled with injuries, including surgery on her back, that have not allowed her to jump to her full potential - plus a great work career with Virgin Media - could easily have left other athletes content to leave the disappointment as an 'If Only' memory.
Not Crane, though. She is back in business and, in 12 months time, will
be jumping for that Commonwealth gold again in Delhi, India.
And, while Crane may not have featured too much in major championships since Melbourne, she does not think that the discipline has moved on too far for her to be a real force in India next year.
In fact, new world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis is top of the British women's high jump rankings this year with the 1.92m she achieved during that competition in Berlin on August 15.
That is just two centimetres above Crane's personal best and not that far away from her 2009 season's best of 1.79m at the Welsh Senior Championships in Cardiff in June.
Crane said, "I'm fi nally getting back into some shape. I had some problems prior to having back surgery but I'm in winter training already and have had a solid start to it, having missed half of last season."
"I was not best pleased with Melbourne. I was in shape to do a PB
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