Mulvaney on an Olympic mission

7:04am Friday 27th June 2008

CHRIS Mulvaney is determined to get back to the top of British middle distance running after surviving an assault which left him needing brain surgery.

The former British 1,500m champion was gearing up to challenge for a place at this year's Olympic Games when he was the victim of an unprovoked attack in the USA which almost cost him his life.

He was left in a coma and had to be airlifted to Indianapolis Hospital for an emergency operation which saved his life.

Six months on, he is back in full training and, apart from losing his sense of smell and some sense of taste, has made a full recovery.

And, far from ending his career, the horrific experience has left him hungrier than ever to be a champion again.

"People probably assume I'm finished," acknowledged Mulvaney who has disappeared off the radar after being injured for the whole of the last two seasons.

"But they don't know I was in a coma six months ago.

"I'm working very hard to get back to where I was, and when I do I want to shock people and be a champion again."

Mulvaney was Britain's top 1,500m man leading up to the Olympics in 2004.

He won the Olympic trials but missed out on going to Athens because he was just outside the qualifying time.

"Me and Andy Baddeley had a week to get the time and we had one race to do it, in Madrid," said Mulvaney who has recently moved from Heaton to Chapeltown where the miles of surrounding countryside is perfectly conducive to running.

"But there were problems with an airport strike which affected us, and neither of us got it."

The following year he knocked more than three seconds off his personal best time when he ran 3mins 37.36secs in the British Grand Prix at Crystal Palace.

But then his injury problems set in and he has not competed since.

His chances of ever racing again were slim after the vicious assault which almost claimed his life.

His attackers, who struck for no reason as he left a restaurant with some friends, have never been found.

"We had driven up to Indiana to watch the National Cross Country Championships and had just come out after having a meal," he said.

"A car then drove up and some people got out and attacked me. I fell and hit my head on the floor.

"I've got my friends to thank for me still being here because I didn't want to go to hospital.

"They told me I had blood coming out of my ears and my mouth and they called for an ambulance.

"They airlifted me to the hospital and I was in a coma. The people at the hospital gave me a 40 per cent chance of surviving and said if I had got there an hour later I wouldn't have woken up.

"I was in a coma for half a day and came round the next day."

He was not allowed to do any physical activity for four months - "My mum wouldn't even let me carry her shopping" - but he has made up for it in the last two months.

"I do two running sessions a day and one weights session," he said.

"They said my energy levels would be low for about six months, and it's coming up to six months since the accident now.

"At first I was sleeping for 23 hours a day, then it was 20 and now it's back to normal.

"They also said there might be problems with speech, movement and memory but they're OK now. The only effect it's had is that I've lost my sense of smell and some taste, but at least it means I'm eating more healthily.

"I used to get headaches and my head would throb when I was running But it's fine now and I'm off all painkillers."

If Mulvaney is going to achieve his dream of running in the London Olympics he knows he is going to have to start at rock bottom.

He accepts he is the forgotten man of British middle distance running. He's got no coach or agent - he has no need for either at the moment - no funding or sponsorship, and there has been no mention of him on athletics websites for two years.

"It's Rocky-style training at the moment," smiles the former Arkansas University student who won the USA Collegiate title a few months before winning the British Olympic qualifiers four years ago.

"I do all my training on my own, but I don't need anybody to push me. If anything I push myself too hard.

"I'm trying to catch up on what I've missed and get back to where I was two years ago.

"I'm working hard on my endurance and then I'll work on getting quicker.

"At the moment I'm just happy to be running again and I don't want to race until I think I'm ready. I don't want to run a slow time and everybody to say Chris Mulvaney is just a domestic runner.

"I'm too proud for that. I was national champion and I want to be national champion again and move on from there.

"I believe I've got the talent. Things have happened and I have to keep picking myself up and believing in myself. When I think what happened four years ago and now this year I just think it's my destiny to run at the Olympics in London.

"I hope to get the rewards in the end and to achieve everything I'm capable of.

"I'm positive. I see it as a challenge I have to rise to. If I do, the rewards will be even greater."

And he has one more reason to return to the track.

"Someone told me last week that Tom Lancashire has taken my 1,500m Bolton record from me (when Lancashire ran 3:35.33 to achieve the Olympic qualifying time earlier this month). So I have to get back to get that back."