Burgess Hill mum and daughter’s coronavirus lockdown garden workout praised by Olympic javelin thrower

Aneela Rose has been posting videos on her Instagram of her training sessions with her daughter, and has captured the attention of Olympian javelin thrower Tessa Sanderson.

She said: “My mini me is fantastic considering the javelin is twice her size and she’s never held one before!

“Tessa Sanderson messaged me on my public Instagram to congratulate me on reviving the javelin. She’s one of my idols, and in the 80s was one of the big three javelin Olympians.

“To have her message me was amazing. She said she loved my videos and that I have my child involved, and that I’d inspired her to dust off her javelins and practice with her twins.”

While finding ways to stay active at home can be difficult, Aneela said her daughter has enjoyed training with the javelin so far.

She said: “We have to be really careful with them. She’s been excited because I’ve not let her hold one before, and now she asks me if we can go out to exercise with the javelin.”

Aneela started throwing the javelin in school, and had not thrown it for more than 25 years until the 2012 London Olympic Games.

She said: “I was inspired to pick it back up, but until then I’d been a competitive powerlifter.

“I represented the country in the AWPC World Powerlifting Championships in 2018 and I’m a British champion in my age and weight class.”

Aneela said her 10-year-old son also enjoys throwing the javelin, saying he has a ‘fast arm’ and ‘shows a lot of promise’.

She said: “Being on lockdown has forced me to think creatively, and I’m educating them as well to make use of what we’ve got.”

Watch Aneela’s videos on her Instagram, aneela.rose.

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

Thank you for reading this story on our website.

But I also have an urgent plea to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality local news on this free-to-read site and in print, please purchase a copy of our newspaper as well. With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on our town centres and many of our valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you buying a copy.

Our journalists are highly trained by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards anywhere in the world. Our content is universally trusted - as all independent research proves.

As Baroness Barran said in a House of Lords debate this week on the importance of journalists: “Not only are they a trusted source of facts, but they will have a role to play in rallying communities and getting the message across about how we can keep ourselves and our families safe, and protect our NHS. Undoubtedly, they have a critical role.”

But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis. In return we will continue to forensically cover the local news - not only the impact of the virus but all the positive and uplifting news happening in these dark days.

In addition, please write to your MP urging the Government to provide some additional financial support for local newspapers and their websites like this one and ensuring that supermarkets continue to stock them. I cannot stress enough how important such an intervention would be.

We thank all our readers and advertisers for their understanding and support - and we wish YOU all the best in the coming weeks. Keep safe, and follow the Government advice. Thank you.