Spikes30 Nov 2016


Clayton Murphy

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Did You Know Clayton Murphy

In Rio he won Olympic 800m bronze, but don't hold your breath for Clayton Murphy to make his mark on the darts scene any time soon.

1. My pre-race superstition is to shower

“A couple of hours before a race, often the last thing I do before I leave for the track is to shower. It is a tradition which started from my first college cross country race and it has stuck ever since. 

“I listen to music – not sing – in the shower. I like to listen to hip-hop, rap, rock, pop – a range of music. Still, although it has become my thing, the one time I didn’t shower – because I went to the grocery store to grab something – ahead of the Texas Relays in March, it made no difference to how I performed because I won over 800m and beat Leo Manzano.”

2. I broke my toe lifting weights

“One of the most serious injuries I’ve suffered was when I broke my toe lifting weights for basketball at high school. I was doing a leg press and one of the plate weights slipped off, broke and crushed the big toe on my right foot. 

“I was in a hard cast up to my knee for three weeks, so you can imagine how much ankle strength I had after that. I was probably out for six weeks. It is the longest injury I’ve had in my career.” 

3. I’m not a natural at darts

“I live in a house with five other guys and we have some competitive nights playing video games. Recently I’ve bought a dartboard and we’ve been playing quite a lot.

“I find I am lucky in that I’m quite good at most sports, but darts I really struggle with. To be fair, we all struggle and it took us two hours before we could hit the bullseye. Despite this I still like to play darts.

“The other week I played for four days straight, although I can’t say my skill level has got a whole lot better.” 

 

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