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Jemma Simpson well prepared for 1,500m switch

Team England middle-distance runner Jemma Simpson insists that she has done everything possible to prepare for her switch to 1,500m at the Commonwealth Games.

Team England middle-distance runner Jemma Simpson has insisted that she has done everything possible to prepare herself for her switch to the 1,500m in Glasgow.

The 30-year-old has spent most of her career competing over 800m, but has worked hard to improve over the longer distance after missing out on selection for Great Britain at the London 2012 Olympics.

Simpson has admitted that racing over 1,500m at a major championships is uncharted territory for her, but the Cornish athlete is confident that her thorough preparation will put her in good shape at the Commonwealth Games.

"It is a fairly new event for me," she told BBC Radio Cornwall. "I've raced it on and off but I've never raced it at an outdoor championship before at this level.

"For the past couple of years I've been really trying to work hard on my endurance to prepare me for this event. Endurance-wise I'm probably in the best shape I've ever been in, but when you get to a championship you've got apply everything.

"You've got to race tactically well, you've got to do the rounds, you've got to be able to sprint at the end and compete against the Kenyans and everyone else. It will be tough but I think I'm in pretty good shape, I couldn't have done much more than I have done."

Simpson finished sixth in the 800m at her only previous Commonwealth Games outing, in Melbourne 2006, and has also run at two World Championships and a European Championships during her career.

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Decathlete Dean Macey smiles during the Norwich Union Great Britain and Northern Ireland team Press conference at the Hotel Gothia Towers on August 6, 2006
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