13 May 2020

British hurdler Meghan Beesley on training with her dog during lockdown

British 400m hurdler Meghan Beesley has revealed she is training with her dog Coco during lockdown in a bid to keep fit while away from the track.

The World Indoor and European bronze medallist is currently a part of Loughborough University’s #TrainatHome campaign as athletes look to maintain their levels through extenuating circumstances.

Beesley has won bronze at the European Championships in the 400m hurdles (PA Images)

Speaking about how her training has changed, she said: “I’m 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 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!”

Beesley's focus for 2020 was the Olympics but they have now been pushed back to 2021 due to the global pandemic.

But the 30 year-old remains positive about the situation and insists the delay will mean the Tokyo Games will be even sweeter once they eventually come around.

“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," she added.

"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.”

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