A broken leg 'reset' helped Charlie Dobson return to the track a more rounded sprinter ahead of the World Championships and Commonwealth Games this summer.
Colchester-born Dobson, 22, suffered a stress fracture to his leg during a warm-up at the World Athletics Relays in May 2021.
He subsequently spent ten months sidelined, three of those in a boot, but returned to racing for the first time in February to win his 60m event at the Loughborough Indoor Open.
He now targets a summer of success with a home Commonwealth Games in Birmingham taking place shortly after July’s World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Dobson, who represents Colchester Harriers Athletics Club, said: “The stress fracture was a struggle but I got on with it.
“I got stronger in other aspects of my body that needed to be strengthened to help me run faster. So I took the time to reset from the sport and build my body back up to the point where I can handle the loads that I put through it.
“I still went down to the track most days because I didn’t want to feel like it had beaten me.”
Dobson first tasted major success at the 2018 World Junior Championships, a silver medal in the 200m just a year after his introduction to elite level athletics.
He was hopeful of a place in Team GB’s 4x400m team for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, having recorded a time that ranked him first in the country for the entire year prior to his injury.
One challenge for Dobson this year is deciding which discipline to focus on and while his preferred distance is unclear, what is certain is his admiration for one former sprinter in particular.
“We’re as yet undecided. It’ll be between me and my coach to decide which event we focus on for the coming years,” he said.
“Usain Bolt was quite good, I suppose! He’s a triple world-record holder, so that’s quite a big thing to live up to one day. He was quite a chilled out person off the track too.”
Dobson’s athletics career is supported by an innovative partnership between Entain – owner of Ladbrokes and Coral – and leading sports charity SportsAid.
The funding enables him access to training, travel and equipment which Dobson hopes will help propel him to the Olympics in Paris in 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028 after the disappointment of missing out in Tokyo.
“They’re definitely events I want to do, especially the individual events,” he said.
Dobson is currently relishing being back out on the track in Loughborough, where he studies Aeronautical Engineering.
He is now into his penultimate year of a three-year degree which has been stretched over five years to accommodate his athletics commitments.
Dobson said: “It can get quite draining very quickly. Although, it’s good to have something else because if you only focus on one thing you don’t have enough time to sit back, assess and focus on what’s going on with the rest of your life.
“You could easily get caught up purely in athletics.”
Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, is proud to be championing the next generation of British sporting heroes by providing talented young athletes with financial support and personal development opportunities in partnership with SportsAid. Visit entaingroup.com to find out more.
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