by Stuart Weir
Andrew Pozzi
Aged 32, Andrew Pozzi has announced his retirement from the sport. In 2018, he was the world indoor champion at 60m (having previously finished 4th twice). In 2017, he won the European Indoor title. In 2020, he won all seven indoor races – 17 indoor and outdoor races, 14 wins, and was second in two others – but COVID led to the cancellation of the World Indoors and the postponement of the Olympics. He was seventh in the Tokyo Olympics, his third Olympics, and took bronze in the 2022 Commonwealth Games. His PR was 13.14 and 7.43 indoors. Sadly, his was a career blighted by injuries.
In announcing his retirement, he said: “After missing the 2023 season with a serious injury, I have battled exceptionally hard to return to the world stage and earn my place at what would have been my 4th Olympic Games. In difficult circumstances, I’m extremely proud of the progress that I’ve made this season. Unfortunately, as I continued to build and improve upon my 13.23, it gave way in training with another serious ankle fracture. Injury has always been my greatest competitor over the last 17 years. While my history has been littered with serious difficulty, I am most proud of the resilience I have shown and the achievements I have amassed following such heartbreaks. I’ve decided that now is the right time to retire from professional athletics. It has been my greatest honor to live out the dreams of my 10-year-old self”.
I saw him win the European Indoor title in Belgrade in 2017 and spoke to him afterward as he talked about winning his first major medal: “Before I even took my first stride, I saw that everyone had got out ahead, so my heart stopped, but my head kicked into overdrive. I fought all the way – it wasn’t pretty and messy, but from a poor start, I thought I fought through quite well.”
“Winning is everything – it’s just been so long. Obviously, my first senior team was in 2012, so it’s five years now, and I haven’t really moved on from that because I just couldn’t put the work in; I’ve always come to championships with really minimal work and knowing that I needed to find something when I got there – this is the first time I’ve come into one having done all of the work.”
Winning the 2018 World Championship in Birmingham, UK, was notable for him: “To be a world champion in Birmingham makes the achievement tenfold better. I’ve grown up here over the last decade. These championships have been amazing, and being the GB team captain for these championships is the biggest honor of my life. Every team member has been perfect, and I’m delighted I could do it. In every interview, I said I was in great shape, but I didn’t come in with the fastest time; I was 10th or 11th. So, to come out and win with a great time is perfect. These moments have kept me going (through all the injuries). I knew I could return and get to the top”.
He explained his event to me: “The hurdles are so intriguing for me because once you get past hurdle one, your progress is interrupted every three strides by a hurdle. So, typically, one mistake is much more costly in the hurdles than in any other event. If you make a mistake early in the race, getting back up to speed or your rhythm is much more difficult. Even a small mistake, like clipping a hurdle, can mess up your rhythm and make you lose your speed. I find it so intriguing because of that”.
Andrew was a great athlete who achieved a lot. Without the injuries, he would have achieved a lot more. In addition, he is one of the nicest people in the sport, always friendly and ready to chat.
