Daniel Goriola has been making plenty of strides on the track in recent weeks having delivered superb performances at both the Under-20 National Championships, as well as the Senior British Championships. The promising hurdler is a first year sport scholar at the University of Nottingham, combining his Law studies with his continued athletic progression. Daniel will be representing the university at the upcoming BUCS Nationals and will be hoping his fine form continues in Sheffield. We spoke to Daniel ahead of his races for the University of Nottingham this weekend, finding out more about his sporting and academic journey so far.
It’s a pleasure to speak with you ahead of BUCS Nationals Daniel – it’d be great to learn a little bit more about yourself and how you got into sport?
Absolutely. I grew up in Dartford and have lived there my whole life with my family. I started getting into sport in primary school, and I was always fast. I used to race friends on the playground and at sports day I tended to win most of my races! At around the age of 11 my parents decided to get me into an athletics club – Dartford Harriers – so that I could work on my skills. My parents have always been supportive, helping me attend training and races so I’m very thankful to them for their support. Once I’d joined Harriers and really got into running properly, it’s been progress on top of progress.
What was it about the sport that you enjoyed and got you interested?
I just enjoyed racing against other people and being competitive. I knew that I was fast but I wanted to see how fast I was against others in competition scenarios because it’s very different. I’ve also always enjoyed running and being an athletic person – whether it be in other sports such as football too.
When did you start competing regularly?
I would say that I started competing when I joined my secondary school – Dartford Grammar. They really helped me to get into competitions across a range of different events – from sprinting and hurdles, to high jump. I competed regularly through the school at Leigh Valley and from then on I started to pick up good results and make positive progress.
When did you decide that you really wanted to focus on your main discipline of hurdles?
I transitioned into hurdles after lockdown. My coaches thought that I’d be best at either 400m or 400m hurdles, but my dad thought otherwise because he thought I was more suited to 100m hurdles. Obviously I’m now running 110m hurdles as I’m a little bit older, but I must’ve run an unexpectedly good time at some point and from then on I’ve just kicked on and kept training. My times kept on getting faster and faster so that’s when I started to take it much more seriously.
Was there a specific event or moment when you realised you could definitely go further in the sport?
Yes, at the 2021 Kent Championships I ran a really good time and that set me up nicely for the English Schools' Track and Field Championships. I ended up medalling at that event which got me into the England set-up where I earned more podiums, and from then on my focus has purely been achieving in the hurdles.
When did you decide to combine your sport with studying at university?
To be honest, university is something that’s been on my mind for a long time. I had a decision to make as to whether I went to the US or stayed in the UK, but I wanted to study Law which is a very different course in America. Ultimately I chose to stay in the UK because I know that it’s still possible to go really far in the sport here. I had a look at the scholarship options here at the University of Nottingham and it definitely seemed the best option for me. I had the opportunity to visit and see David Ross Sports Village which is massive, and knowing the university is big on sports too helped make my decision.
What is it about the subject that made you choose to study Law?
I have thought about a career as a solicitor at some point. It seems a really interesting subject and I like to argue so I thought why not? I’m still balancing up how I combine the two in the future if my athletics continues as I hope, but as we all know athletics can be a short career so it’s really good to have a great academic background too.
How have your recent competitions been going?
They’ve been going really well –better than I expected to be honest! I was aiming to win the Under-20 National Championship gold medal which I did, and I managed to secure a podium finish at the Senior British Championships. Senior competitions are a little bit different to the Under-20’s so I have been working hard on adapting to that so I was pleased to achieve a podium at 18 years old. I was slightly shocked, but I just went in and had faith in my abilities. Now it’s on to BUCS Nationals!
Absolutely – what are your expectations for the upcoming BUCS Nationals?
Well, because of my performance at the British Championships my coach believes that I should win – so fingers crossed! I just need to have faith again, work hard, stay humble and focussed, and hopefully I can do it. I’ll be competing in the 60m hurdles and because I’m quite tall I shouldn’t need to make too much of a transition to the format. I’ve also competed at the National Institute of Sport in Sheffield quite a lot, including quite recently at the Under-20 Nationals. It’s a track that I’ve always done quite well at so I hope that it continues this weekend! However, my coach always says not to aim for times, but just aim to win. I’ve found that really helpful because whenever I’ve ran my fastest I haven’t aimed for a specific time – just to win – so I’ll be doing the same again this weekend.
You’ll be competing as part of the University of Nottingham at BUCS Nationals - how will you find that experience?
I do enjoy competing with the university. There will obviously be a lot of athletes from other universities that I know there too so it’ll be good to socialise with them too. Although, I will be competing against some of them so I’ll bear that in mind!
How have you found your first year at the university so far?
It’s been a good experience. I started off new to everything and I didn’t have a clue! Obviously, over time you get acclimatised and you meet more people - I have mentors on my course, there are other scholars who have been here for a while who I’ve spoken to, and you make connections quickly.
I’ve had a really busy schedule combining my degree and my running. Thankfully most of my competitions are at the weekend so I can focus on my academics during the week and get my schedule right.
Have you got many other competitions coming up?
So BUCS Nationals is my last indoor event of the season, and then it’ll be on to outdoors. The outdoor season is slightly more important in my opinion because it’s a longer distance and there are more events. The outdoor nationals are my main focus because that can really help me to qualify for the World Championships in August. After I complete my exams in the summer, I can really then focus on my preparations for these competitions.
We thank Daniel for speaking with us ahead of BUCS Nationals and wish him the very best of luck on the track. We hope that Daniel can continue his fantastic form in the #GreenandGold of the University of Nottingham, and look forward to following his progress both domestically and internationally as he continues to study at the Unviersity of Nottingham over the next few years.
You can find out more about the Sport Scholarship programme at the University of Nottingham by
visiting our dedicated web page.
Posted on Wednesday 21st February 2024