A HAMMER thrower who grew up in Charfield and Yate is aiming to become only the second British woman to make the Olympic final when she competes at the Beijing games next month.

Zoe Derham, 27, was relieved to get the call-up last Saturday after her throw in qualifying was just short of the Olympic A qualifying standard, even though it was the second furthest thrown by a British woman.

She threw a personal best 68.63 metres at Loughborough University last Thursday, but was still short of the 69.5 metre required mark, and she thought she would miss out before the call came on Saturday.

Now Derham is setting her sights on breaking the British record and being part of the final 12 at the 2008 Olympics.

Gloucester-based Lorraine Shaw, who has coached the British number one for over nine years, holds the current British record and finished ninth in the Sydney games in 2000, but her pupil is now looking to follow in her footsteps.

“You have got to be confident,” said Derham.

“I am more confident because I was 30 centimetres off the British record, so I hope to throw well and take the record.

“If I can get in the final 12 I’ll only be the second woman after Lorraine Shaw to do so, and if I throw well I’ll prove the selectors are right to pick me.”

Derham lived in Charfield until she was eight before moving to Yate where she attended Kind Edmund Community School.

Matt Spicer was her first coach at Yate Athletics Club before she joined Bristol Athletics Club and moved to Bath.

She now lives in Gloucester and works for sports tour specialists Burleigh Travel in Stroud, although her parents are residents in Chipping Sodbury.

Derham, currently a member of Birchfield Harriers, finished fifth in the 2006 Commonwealth games in Melbourne, but has never been to the Olympics before.

And after realising most athletes’ dream, she plans on making the most of it.

“It is a big achievement,” she said.

“I do not think I will be in the medal positions but it is a good opportunity for me. It can be a springboard for other championships and it makes the last 11 years worth it.

“I am going to enjoy the experience but obviously I want to throw well.

“If I am to make the final depends on what other people do, but anything can happen. If I throw my best you never know.”

Derham’s Olympic dream was in the balance though, after being told beforehand that she had to throw 69.5 metres.

She told the Gazette of the relief she felt after an anxious two days waiting to find out her fate.

“Relief was the main feeling,” she said.

“Shock was there as well but it was a good shock.

“I did not think I had made it as on previous selections people have been very close and overlooked.

“I was not sure whether to be happy because my throw beat my personal best. I was a bit in limbo.”

Derham also revealed how she used to shrug off suggestions of making the Olympics at Yate Athletics Club.

Now she’s counting the days until she flies out to China on August 4, although she hasn’t decided whether to go for the London 2012 games yet.

She said: “Some people (at Yate AC) would say about Beijing but I didn’t believe it, although me and Lorraine have been planning it for three or four years now.

“I’m still trying to be convinced about it (London 2012). I’ll have to re-assess but I hope to go to the 2010 Commonwealth games.”

Derham will throw in the qualifying round in Beijing on August 18 in the hope of reaching the final two days later.

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