Talented steeplechaser had humble beginnings in athletics but is now a British Olympic hopeful in the 3000m steeplechase

Aimee Pratt laughs when she recalls her first big race. It was 2012, she was still extremely new to the sport and she had been entered by her coach Vicente Modahl to run the 800m at the English Under-15 Indoor Championships.

“I think that was the easiest event that I could actually get to the end of!” she grins. “But I just threw myself into it. I didn’t have a clue what it was and I think I was still running in my Converse at that point but Vicente said ‘do you want to do it?’ and I was like ‘why not?’. When I actually got there – it was at the Birmingham Arena – I remember walking in and thinking ‘wow, I didn’t know I was getting myself into this’.

“I ran the heats [in 2:22] and I was swimming in lactic by the end of it, but I qualified for the final. I was so naive, though, and I think there was a girl that had run 2:12 and been fastest in the heats but I went home thinking ‘I could win this’ – I didn’t realise how big 10 seconds was. I went back the next day and I was almost last in the final. I thought ‘wow, I’ve got a long way to go’.”

In the intervening years, however, the 23-year-old has indeed come a long way. She is now the reigning British 3000m steeplechase champion, was eighth-fastest in the world in the event last year with her run of 9:30.73 and has a World Championships appearance under her belt. 

This year’s overarching goal is, of course, reaching her first Olympics and some of the key steps on the road to Tokyo will be taken from home. Pratt’s first major assignment when she returns from a training stint in America – which included a 9:35.34 performance at the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting/Drake Relays – will be to compete at the Manchester Invitational on May 27, a pilot event organised by Modahl which is hoped will pave the way for the establishment of a Continental Tour meeting next year. 

Preparations are gathering pace, with endurance runner Marc Scott, shot putter Sophie McKinna, discus throwers Kirsty Law and Greg Thompson, as well as hammer throwers Chris Bennett, Jessica Mayho and Osian Jones also set to compete at the Sportcity venue which will host the Müller British Championships and Olympic trials on June 25-27. The British Athletics Supporters’ Club is backing the event, too, and is providing £1000 for the performances of the day, which will be split between the top male and best female athlete.

Pratt knows Sportcity particularly well, given that it is the Sale Harrier’s training base, and she is delighted to see the spotlight falling on her home city. The battles she used to have for track access are now a thing of the past and, after winning that British title there last year, is eager to test herself in what will be a top quality meeting.

“It’s been frustrating throughout the years, especially with events like steeplechase where you don’t really get even that many sub-10 races, so to have such a high level of competition in our home city where my family can come and watch – it’s really exciting,” she says.

Pratt’s first encounter with the 3000m steeplechase came in 2014, having done well over the 1500m version, but could she have believed at the point just how high a level she would reach? Her answer is revealing.

“I think so, because from the very start it was never told to me that I wouldn’t be able to [do it]. It was always a case of, ‘yes it will take time but it’s definitely achievable’.

“I think the way I was spoken to by Vicente, it was that this is not something that’s out of reach – you can do it if that’s what you want to do. So I think I always knew I could get there and I never thought I couldn’t do it – I just knew it was going to be a lot of work.”

That she began this journey at all is in no small part down to the work of the Diane Modahl Sports Foundation, created and run by the former Commonwealth 800m champion alongside husband Vicente, which works with disadvantaged children from across the North West of England. Those youngsters will be carrying out a number of roles during the Manchester Invitational event. 

“I was 13 when Diane came into my school and then they started an athletics programme,” says Pratt. “I just started through that and messed around a bit for the first few years but I just kept improving every year and then somehow ended up here.”

She adds: “It [the foundation] has introduced me to people I would have never normally come across. From when I was really young, we had these events every year where we’d meet Olympians and you get to see they’re just normal people – it’s hard work [that gets you to the top]. 

“A lot of people say ‘if you can’t see, you can’t be’ and I think if you don’t see people like that, you might not realise that you can do anything you want. It just helped me in that way. We would meet people like Chris Hoy, which was cool, and obviously when people do well in sport you find it amazing, but I don’t see it as anything that I can’t do.”

Pratt is the perfect example of what the charity was set up to do in the first place. 

“Aimee is a role model and ambassador these days and I think, when I saw her running for the first time, I knew that if she did the work she could reach the Olympics,” says Vicente. “Now it’s 10 years later and we are almost there. It’s a fantastic feeling to have achieved that.” 

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— Bryggen Sports (@BryggenSports) May 5, 2021