Middle distance running star Daniel Wolff is intent on continuing to raise the bar after smashing his personal bests this season.
Wolff, 29, set an all-time English record in the 800m in July with a time of 1:58.84 before following that up just days later with a 1500m personal best in front of a sold-out crowd at the London Stadium.
The Wallington runner knocked almost five seconds off his best time as he finished in 4:02.73, banishing nerves that had previously blighted him on the big stage
“I am happy with my season, definitely,” said Wolff. “The Diamond League race was my highlight, that was the big one.
“It felt a bit strange [racing in front of lots of fans] but in a good way. It was probably why I did a really good time.”
Wolff, who has autism and competes in the T20 classification, had been impacted by nervous at large meets in the past but dad Paul was filled with pride at how he overcame them in front of the biggest crowd in his career.
“I was a bit worried because last year at the UK Athletics Championships it was a much smaller stadium but still quite a big deal and he got incredibly nervous and almost didn’t run,” said Paul.
“With Dan’s autism he is particularly sensitive to certain things, especially if there are changes so this year, I was concerned it might happen again.
“I would imagine a lot of parents have that worry but it was amazing. It was a mixture of this is amazing, with him running in that stadium but also with apprehension that something might go wrong but that didn’t happen, and he ran extremely well.”
Wolff, whose progress is supported by funding from a partnership between SportsAid and multi-million-pound grassroots sport investment programme Pitching In, will now switch his attentions to cross-country during the winter, as well as competing in the Vitality London 10000 later this year.
The hard yards throughout the winter will all be worth it as Wolff looks to push his 1500m time below four minutes, with a very tentative look towards a potential appearance at next summer’s Paralympics in Paris.
“His objective for the next year is to go under four minutes in the 1500m,” added Paul.
“There will be academies to attend coming up and then he has to get assessed again internationally. Usually with that there is a Grand Prix.
“This year he ran his first one in Italy, it is an early season race and is a fairly big one because you are competing for Great Britain.
“The Paralympics places are pretty competitive, there are two that are ahead of the rest and then between Dan and another guy it is a bit of a toss of a coin – but we are not really thinking about that.”
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
