Hurdler Sam Bennett has shelved retirement plans and is ready to take the European Athletics Championships by storm.
Late last year, the 25-year-old from Southend suffered a torn posterior cruciate ligament, the latest in a line of injuries stretching back seven years. But at last week’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, he surged back through the field behind Jamaican Damario Prince to take 110m hurdles silver and now has his eyes on more success in Birmingham.
Make or break year
He said: “This year was make or break for me. It's a reinforcement of my own beliefs because everybody else might not have the same belief that I can make those performances. It’s like a checkbox next to my name that says, okay, he can perform when it matters.
“It definitely does feel different. I think that it's been years of working towards that, and that's been a goal of mine for such a long time - having that reassurance that I am who I think I am and I can achieve what I truly thought I could, when everything on the track was telling me that I couldn't.
“I entered every single competition and wanted to win. That's the biggest thing that's been different for me this year. In previous years, I lost that. I lost the ability to win."
From Harvard to hurdles
Bennett won the European U18 Championships and Commonwealth Youth Games before his injury troubles. He then headed stateside for six years, studying economics and psychology at Harvard and an economics Master’s at Howard’s. And after his hurdling stalled, he began to apply for corporate partnership roles.
He said: “I always say that I graduated with 5,900 people and about 150 of them could have a conversation. I couldn’t do another year of watching the people who I've worked just as hard as to be in those positions travelling the world and competing for their country.
“It felt like I had the world in my hands and my momentum was going to continue in that way. Whether it was sponsors or money, I felt like I was about to get to that tipping point of where things were going to continue to snowball. And then obviously, in the last eight, nine years, I haven't even had a sniff at those things.
“Being within the U.S. collegiate system, I had the support of those people, but then coming out of that meant that being an independent and unsponsored athlete is pretty difficult and it's all on your back.”
Home soil glory
But Bennett’s decision to throw everything at 2026 has paid dividends, as he beat his PB at the UK Athletics Championships in June before his Commonwealth exploits. Now, he forms part of a 98-strong Novuna GB & NI team seeking glory on home turf at the Alexander Stadium.
He said: “Having a home games is so special. I've never had anybody shout for me, for England, like they did at the Commonwealths. So now that we're actually in England, I can't wait.”
Novuna is the Official Finance Partner of British Athletics and proud sponsor of the GB & NI Athletics Team. From everyday goals to world-class dreams, Novuna backs the ambition of millions across the UK — from supporting British businesses and individuals’ plans, to powering British Athletics on the global stage. Find out more at www.novuna.co.uk
