Calvino on verge of Olympic squad
OLYMPIC hopeful Jo Calvino has her fingers crossed for a place at London 2012 after boosting her chances by winning the British 48kg weightlifting title.
The Crystal Palace-based athlete is desperate to avoid a repeat of the heartache she experienced in 2008 when she just missed out on selection for Beijing.
Calvino, 31, swore then she would not miss out when the Games came to her home town, but her involvement remains in the balance as the selectors mull over their options.
In winning her class at the British Senior Championships Calvino achieved the Olympic B standard for a third time and hopes to have done enough to make the team.
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She said: "The competition was a real mixture of emotions. It was a very intense weekend for all the girls, some good things and some bad, but mostly good for me.
"I equalled my British records for both the overall total and the clean and jerk so I'm happy but I had got the A standard in training a couple of weeks ago.
"Getting to 2012 would mean so much to me – it's everything I've worked for all these years. And competing at the Olympics in London would be the icing on the cake."
There are five weightlifting spots available in London, with only two for the women which means competition is fierce among a tight-knit group of athletes which includes Calvino's training partner Emily Godley.
"Zoe Smith is a dead cert even if one of her legs falls off tomorrow, so it means there are three of us going for the last spot," said the Croydon weightlifter.
"We are all different weights so it makes it hard to compare, and we all know each other well which makes events like this nationals really hard. While we want each other to do well we are all vying for the same place so you have to be selfish.
"Right now it is all about who gets it right in competition and if you can't do it at the nationals then what will happen when you get to a major event."
The selectors should announce the team around June 10 and Calvino's focus is to keep training and hope she gets the phone call, but she knows the next few weeks will be difficult.
"It is all up in the air and this is the toughest part, the waiting. There are athletes from lots of different sports all going through the same thing at the moment.
"The long jumper Jade Johnson also trains in Crystal Palace and we went to the Commonwealths together. She says qualifying is the hardest part – once you know you are in that's the easy bit."
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