Athletics star George Mills insists he still has plenty of room for improvement despite storming to victory at the British Athletics Indoor Championships.
**Editors note – this article was supplied by CurraNZ, we received no payment or other incentive for posting it. As with any information supplied by brands we recommend taking time to do your own research into a product’s efficacy and status. All athletes should familiarise themselves with the status of supplements using Global DRO**
The 1500 metre runner rounded off a dream week last week by grabbing gold and scooping his first senior British title in Glasgow, just seven days after notching a new personal best time of 3:39.25 and the 20-year-old star is now setting his sights on Olympic Games qualification.
He said: “It feels amazing to have won the title, the run couldn’t have gone any better. I was feeling good after getting my new personal best last week and I knew I could give the Indoor Championships a good shot.”
“The result was great, but it’s not the most important thing. It was more about the processes of the indoor season and using it to learn and improve. I’ll take those lessons into the outdoor season with me and keep working hard towards the Olympic Games qualifications in June.”
Mills, son of former England and Manchester City footballer Danny Mills, scooped the 1500 metre title in a time of 3:50.69, defeating British junior record-holder Tom Keen (3:52.40) and Jonathan Kay (3:52.56).
But he has no time to rest on his laurels, with an altitude training camp in Flagstaff, USA, in April ahead of a busy summer.
The former European U18 Championship 800m champion, of the Brighton Phoenix club, has turned to a leading blackcurrant supplement to aid his recovery and help him through his hectic schedule.
He is combining his promising athletics career with studying for a Sports Science degree at the University of Brighton and it was his studies that convinced him that Surrey-based CurraNZ could help him in his mission to compete at the Olympics one day.
And an increasing number of British universities are studying the effects of the blackcurrant extract as a natural performance enhancer for athletes and muscle recovery aid.
CurraNZ uses berries grown in New Zealand because the Southern Hemisphere’s intense UV light produces unusually high levels of protective and health-giving nutrients compared with those grown elsewhere.
The key ingredients are anthocyanins – pigments in the fruit’s skin responsible for their dark purple colouring, which belong to a group of flavonoids called ‘polyphenols’ which improve blood flow and possess high levels of antioxidants.
George added “I looked into the performance benefits of CurraNZ to see if it was something that could help me and I have definitely noticed the difference since I started taking it in October 2019. I’m hoping my competitors don’t start using it too!
“I would love to be an Olympic champion one day and make it to the very top level. It’s ambitious, but if you are not ambitious then you won’t push yourself.”
Director of CurraNZ, Nicki Bundock, says more and more athletes – both recreational and elite – are turning to blackcurrant supplements to gain a competitive edge.
‘Blackcurrants also aid recovery in several ways and we are seeing CurraNZ become really popular with sportsmen and women – and not only those competing at the highest level, but also your regular weekend warriors and gym-goers.
“Anthocyanins can enhance immune responses while also controlling and suppressing chronic, harmful inflammation in the body – helping the body repair and studies show that flavonoids promote beneficial inflammatory events, are powerful antioxidants and assist immunity.”
Fast Running cannot say how much of Mills’ performance can be put down to anthocyanins but we certainly wish the talented athlete well for a big year ahead.