LITTLE did Siân Pledger’s dad know that when he agreed to take her down to Bolton United Harriers, aged eight, that athletics was going to become the main drive and focus in her life.

Throughout her early years at Bolton School, Siân juggled her burgeoning love of athletics and her passion for dancing as a member of the Dawn Dawson Dance Academy.

Her first chance to represent BUH&AC came in the Indoor Athletics Leagues and the Red Rose Cross-Country events; medals soon followed indoors, but the cross-country was identified as an event for other athletes.

Aged 14, as school work increased and the demands of dance and athletics became greater, she had to make her first big decision; was it to be dance or athletics? After much soul-searching she decided on athletics.

She was soon rewarded by inclusion in the North West Development squad but at this time success was tempered by injury with a recurrent patella tendonitis problem that was to plague her teenage formative years.

However, Siân was soon to become one of the club’s youngest senior team members specialising in long jump.

Under the tutelage of coach Allen Parkinson, her long jump combined with her sprinting continued to develop in her final years at school and all was in place for selection to represent Greater Manchester at the English Schools’ Finals when glandular fever struck.

She was unable to recover in time for the event but was back in action to run in the Manchester Street Race.

After completing her A-levels at Bolton School, Siân had another big decision to make – should she take up a place at University in the UK, or the offer of a sports scholarship in the USA, or go to join her coach in Malta?

In 2011, she won the North of England Indoor Championships 200m and won the bronze in the 60m.

Siân had now been based in Malta for two years, returning to the UK to compete not only in regional and national events but in club events for Bolton United Harriers and Athletic Club.

However, as she started her student life, the journey from there was not plain sailing, as injury problems in both her ankles were encountered.

She competed through the pain barrier with her ankles taped all the time for the outdoor 2011 season, and even managed to reach the finals of the U23 England 200m Championships.

After months of intensive physio treatments and following her rehabilitation programme to the letter, she was finally back running.

In search of a solution Siân returned to her trusted support team in Bolton and the new facility of BL1 and the University of Bolton.

Throughout this period Siân continued to receive tremendous support from BoSPA, BWFC, Total Fitness, Active Physiotherapy and Axis Podiatry, as she strove to stay fit and look for a solution that would give her the confidence to compete again.

Siân’s 2014 season did not go quite to plan either, as she was in her final year of university studying Geography and concluded her studies.

But she worked very hard over the past couple of months on technique especially in the first 20m of the race.

This year, she started her comeback at the North of England Championships.

Much to her delight she ran 7.93 seconds – the quickest time over 60m that she has ran since 2011, being the first out of the blocks in her heat.

Over the 200m she ran an indoor personal best of 25.48 seconds which meant she qualified automatically to the semis.

This was a double bonus as she was not expected to make the semis or run a PB but missed out on a final place.

She has always worn her Bolton United Harriers vest with pride as she has progressed from being one of the youngest ‘senior’ athletes to enjoying representing Bolton at the national events.

She looks forward to taking the club to higher levels and fully understands the importance of inspiring the young athletes and when she is back always takes time to talk to them and pass on her experience.

Despite all Siân’s setbacks and injuries she has never lost sight of her dream of becoming a world-class athlete. They have just made her even more determined to reach her goals.