Cindy Ofili's season reflection
This year has been particularly challenging for athletes in technical events which require specific training equipment and facilities. The sprint hurdles is one such event. Several top hurdlers such as world champion Nia Ali, Olympic champion Brianna McNeal, world record-holder, Keni Harrison and 2019 Diamond League champion Danielle Williams, for example, have not had an outdoor hurdles race at all in 2020.
Cindi Ofili, on the other hand, was determined to have as full a season as possible. Based in Michigan, USA, she trains with her sister, British record-holder Tiffany Porter, and is coached by her brother-in-law and former Olympic hurdler, Jeff Porter.
"Lockdown was better for us than for most athletes," she says. "We were able to find tracks to train on. Weightlifting was particularly difficult as all the gyms were closed but we found a basement where we could lift. We were always able to find stuff to work out with."
There were several reasons why Ofili was keen to compete this year. One was simply to break up the monotony of training. "We had been working so hard this year," she says, "that we wanted to have something at the end of that in terms of competitions." She also thought that for contract and other purposes it would be good to demonstrate that she was fit. In addition, she feels short of races since her serious injury in 2017. That said, in a season of limited preparation, she says: “The biggest goal was to finish the season healthy and to some get races in."
Starting on July 25, she then had 12 races in nine weeks, including seven in 21 days in September in five countries.
"I was very happy with that and to have some top place finishes," she explains. "I won the British title and had a few other wins so I was happy with that. To finish well in the two Diamond Leagues [Rome and Doha] was important as well.
"It was really about just getting out there. I would have preferred to have run faster than I did, but that wasn’t a huge goal this year. It was more about seeing how everything was going - so I was happy just to have the opportunity really."
Her fastest time was 12.88 but results in the women’s sprint hurdles this year were generally significantly slower than in a normal year, reflecting the challenging conditions this season. In fact, at one meet, Ofili tweeted that it was the first time she had ever warmed up for a hurdles race without hurdles.
Yooo I have never run in a race where we couldn't warmup with hurdles at all 😂.
This year continues to blow my mind!
Happy to win given the circumstances #BritishChamp pic.twitter.com/60aNuC6F4D— Cindy Sember (@cindyofili) September 4, 2020
With regard to the times, she also feels that she thrives off competition. "I run better with a lot of races," she adds. Without the number of races she normally has, she found it difficult to build up the momentum.
On March 21 she married John Sember but even that was a bit strange. While the wedding was able to go ahead, the wedding celebration had to be postponed until next year because of lockdown restrictions on numbers attending. She will compete next year as Sember but has not yet had time legally to change her name.
Ofili has also been active on her YouTube channel, particular since her injury.
"The biggest reason I started the videos was to help other athletes and help other people overcome problems that they are going through," she explains. "To help them to see that they are not alone.
"People tend only to show the highlight reels and you don’t see the things behind closed doors and I wanted to show the truth. I thought I would produce something for other athletes to help them deal with it and the mental struggle, hoping that it would help as an inspiration and motivation."
Her plan for the winter is to train in Michigan with the possibility of some warm weather winter training. She will do an indoor season as a stepping stone to Tokyo.
Click here for more in a series of 2020 reflection interviews.
(Lead photo by Getty Images for British Athletics)
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