Oxford’s Olympic history may be rich in success, but much similar hope is held for many athletes of the future. OUAC destroyed Cambridge in this year’s Varsity match (picture, right) and several promising athletes deserve special focus:
Garrett Johnson
Winner of the NCAA shot-put in 2006, Garrett was a Rhodes Scholar here at Exeter College from 2006-8, studying for a masters in migration. He missed the first varsity match owing to international commitments, but in his last year here set the varsity match record in both the discus and shot – extending the latter from 16.33m to a remarkable 19.94m. Garrett narrowly missed out on the USA team for Beijing, being ranked 14th in the world in 2008 (as of 24th August).
Carolyn Plateau
Carolyn came to Oxford as one of Britain’s brightest hopes in middle-distance
Running, having finished 6th at the World Youths Championships. A couple of years battling with a number of injuries and illnesses means that she is only just reaching top form again. Being mentored by Kelly Holmes, and having reached the AAAs indoor 800 final this year, Carolyn is rapidly gaining confidence and should be pushing for international vests again in the near future.
Jon Blackledge
Twice Oxford’s sportsman of the year, Jon has gone on from winning the BUSA short course cross country in 2005 to focus on his preferred discipline, the 1500m. He has graduated from St Cattherine’s, studying geography, and is now doing a course at Brookes to convert to law. He regularly travels to race on the European circuit and will be looking to improve on his ranking of 21st British male.
