After becoming European indoor champion in Belgrade four years ago, the sprint hurdler is aiming to reclaim the title and believes training in Italy could make the difference

Andrew Pozzi has spent the last few months of his life in the backdrop of the Aurunci Mountains, training at the Olympic Training Centre in Formia, Italy. The warm weather camp has allowed Pozzi to mentally and physically prepare for the indoor season and he’s confident of challenging himself in Toruń and bettering his PB of 7.43 that he set at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix in 2017.

“Now I’m back in really good shape and I’m happy going into the championships. If things go well and we have some good races I see no reason why I can’t target a PB,” he tells AW. “It’s wonderful to be back at a championships. It’s obviously got a little bit of a different feel to it but it’s great to be back here even though it’s come with a lot of stress and organisation headache.

“With regards to my training, staying out in Italy was the right decision to make as it means I could train full-time so it’s the other part of my life that sacrificed in that kind of decision. Last summer was a little more difficult as I was in the UK for about three months and away from my coach but we dealt with that situation very well.”

Pozzi returns to Toruń after victory at the Copernicus Cup last year in a then world lead of 7.52. The 28-year-old went 0.01 seconds better when runner-up to Grant Holloway – who broke Colin Jackson’s 27-year-old world record – in Madrid last month. Now back in Poland, that experience may play to his advantage.

“It’s certainly not a bad thing. One of things that I had going back here this year was that I knew what the travel situation was going to be like, with a touch difference due to Covid-19, but I had to do the similar drive from Warsaw airport last year,” he recalls.

“Knowing what to expect cuts out some kind of anxiety and that always helps. I don’t think it’s imperative but having been here and knowing what Toruń is like a little bit, added to the fact I had a good result last year, is definitely not a negative thing!”

While some athletes had a quieter 2020 than usual, Pozzi took part in 10 races including the Rome Diamond League and ones in Monaco, Finland and Hungary. After hearing that the Olympics were cancelled, the sprint hurdler – ravaged by injury through the early years of his career – was keen to get as much competition as was possible to prepare for 2021.

“It [2020] was very difficult and I think from my point of view, where I’ve lost an awful number of years of my career through injury, we’ve just done everything we can so I can stay in the best shape as possible and keep making progress,” he tells AW. “Knowing at some point, we’re going back into that championship environment means you don’t want to make the wrong decision and I really based my training as a top priority.

“Even when I was back in the UK I was doing as much training as was legally allowed knowing an opportunity would come up where I could race as I didn’t want to be stood on the track feeling that I contributed not being in the shape I wanted to be.”

Pozzi can easily look to the past for inspiration. After becoming European indoor champion in 2017 he became world indoor champion the following year in Birmingham and now believes he is far stronger mentally due to that success at an elite level.

“Belgrade for me was really a wonderful championships. Winning that first one was definitely the hardest. I went into that in really good shape, was racing really strong every week and although the final was a little bit closer than anticipated it really gave me confidence and just validated the faith that I always had through years of injury because I was only doing the work to get back to the highest level,” he recalls.

“Similarly, looking at Birmingham a year later, the experience that I had from Belgrade and winning a medal changed my mind going into those championships and I went into it thinking that come to that moment when it mattered I could get the best out of myself.”