Diaries
Well it’s been a hectic few months, and I have been focused on the two main events in my life so far and really, where do I begin? There have been some huge changes since my last diary entry.... Read more>> 
It looked fantastic, the Chinese obviously gave the same respect to the Paralympics as they did to the Olympics and the athletes got treated to a fantastic games.... Read more>> 
We are now on the eve of the Beijing Paralympic Games. For me it's a bit strange as this will be the first Paralympic Games that I haven't been a competitor since my first Games in Seoul in 1998.... Read more>>
Simon Jackson
10.06.2009
Hi again
Well it’s been a hectic few months, and I have been focused on the two main events in my life so far and really, where do I begin? There have been some huge changes since my last diary entry. I have left work as a classroom mentor to train full time with the GB Cycling Team and it has been great, training full time again. I thought that I would have more time to work on other projects in my life but it’s not called full time training for nothing and I really have been totally committed to raising my performance since the last time I raced. Gaining two silver medals in last years Paralympic World Cup was a good achievement considering I had only been training for six weeks, but to my mind, silver isn’t good enough and I am still reeling from missing out on Beijing so this year, I had to get gold.
I have been practising my starts, which are among the most important parts of this sport. Races can be won or lost in the opening second, it’s that vital, and all the work I have put into this training has paid off big time.
It was a great two days racing actually.
With two gold medals in the BT Paralympic World Cup 2009, I have shown that I can still perform at the top level.
Away from sport, I am getting married next weekend to my fiancée Sarah, having just about recovered from my stag do. My brother organized the do and we had a suite at the greyhound track at Belle Vue with one of the races sponsored by us, the Simon Jackson MBE Last Night of Freedom race. My dad bet on it and won £50 so he was more than happy. I felt I had something in common with the dogs since the track they race on is the same shape as the one I race on. It was great to see all the lads, and we had a great time watching the dog racing then into Manchester city centre. A couple of the lads from the judo club came up, one of them, Ben Quilter, travelled all the way from London and obviously things got a bit emotional and there was lots of reminiscing taking place.
The next thing to focus on then, after the wedding and honeymoon of course, is the World Cup in November.
Narrated by Colin Cunningham
© BP 2012
