11:05am Thursday 25th January 2007
Julia Bennett celebrates 20 years at the top this weekend after reconsidering a decision to hang up her spikes.
The 36-year-old from Haywards Heath is due to complete her second decade as an international when she represent Great Britain in the pentathlon in Spain.
The Cardinal Newman School teacher had planned to retire after competing in the high jump at the Commonwealth Games last March but is enjoying a resurgence in form since switching back to multi-eventing.
She qualified for the British team for the match against the Czech Republic, Netherlands, France and Spain after winning a silver medal at the England Combined Events Championships last weekend, although she admits her selection still came as something of a surprise.
Bennett said: "I didn't even know it was a selection meeting so it was quite a surprise when I was told I had made the team for Spain.
"It makes me smile when I think that I have been an international for 20 years now. I did think last season was going to be my swansong but I'm glad I carried on now. The hunger is still there so I didn't see any reason to give up.
"I'm 37 in March and it does get harder to stay at the top but it is things like this which make it all worthwhile.
If someone had told me 20 years ago I would still be competing for my country I would not have believed them."
Bennett first pulled on a Great Britain vest in a junior international in 1987 and made her senior debut in an indoor meeting against West Germany two years later.
The evergreen athlete has been ranked in the top ten for the high jump for 18 successive years and her two appearances at the Commonwealth Games were 12 years apart, in 1994 in Canada and last year in Australia.
Bennett believes a switch back to multi-eventing this season will help prolong her career even further and is confident she can add to her already bulging trophy cabinet.
She added: "I've decided to do multi-events instead of just the high jump because I want to enjoy myself and improve my all-round fitness.
"I gave up the high jump once before in 2001 to concentrate on combined events when I had a problem with my Achilles tendon and couldn't take off properly.
"It does take the pressure off a bit because you can have a poor day in one event but make up for it in others. I wasn't very pleased with my high jump last weekend and usually that would put me on a real downer but I made up for it with solid performances in the other disciplines.
"I believe I still have a lot to offer and will keep competing for my country as long as they pick me. I'll review the situation at the end of the season but at the moment I'm determined to keep going."
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