In January we brought to you news of FGH employee, and discus and shot-put athlete, Tom Smith as part as our ‘Staff in Focus’ series. Since then Tom has busy professionally and in terms of his sporting endeavours. Tom has been continuing his sterling work with FGH and has been promoted to supervisory level within our events division but behind the scenes he has been training hard and working on his core strength to further his sporting ambitions.
In our ‘Staff in Focus’ article Tom revealed his determination to be a Olympiad: a largely successful summer of competition has demonstrated that he is well on the way to fulfilling his dreams. In June Tom secured a silver medal for shot-put in the North of England and more importantly qualified to throw at a national level. However, only weeks later Tom suffered a set-back in the form of a thumb fracture. A fractured thumb would be inconvenient and painful for most people but for a thrower this was a game changer. In Tom’s case his thumb was so severely broken that it took 4 hours of reconstructive surgery to right and 3 pins and screws had to be used to create a new joint for the thumb. Tom describes his training as having taken ‘a bit of a hit’ but only 6 weeks after such an invasive procedure Tom was able to recommence his training and was still able to compete at the national championships in Bedford in August. In going into the competition he was ranked 10th and was understandably nervous of his chances in the light of major reconstructive surgery. However Tom put in an admirable throwing performance to make it through to the finals. In the end he belied his ranking by finishing 6th overall.
Tom is philosophical about his competitive year ; ‘I feel this is a good season for me considering the injury-prone year I have had. I have now started my winter training to get ahead of my competition. If I can stay injury free I have real hope that I’ll be selected to represent Great Britain next season.
Dave Hassall, senior manager at FGH Security describes the company as being justly proud of Tom: ‘It takes real strength of character to overcome the disappointment of injury and come out the other side competing so effectively. FGH is delighted to support promising and aspiring athletes such as Tom. This is a win-win situation for us; we are able to get focussed and physically fit staff, well-versed in team work. In turn our athletes get the support they need in order to achieve.
Tom has opted to work on a more casual basis for the company to enable him to focus on his competing. If you’re an aspiring athlete and looking for work you can fit in around your training schedule then feel free to complete one of our application forms here.
