Hammering it down with Sara

Hi, I'm Sara Killinen, a Lapua-based hammer thrower. My combo of athletics and academics is working out quite well for me – I live in Blacksburg, Virginia, USA, and I'm part of the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association). Sure, during the summer I head back to Finland to compete, but otherwise I'm here on the other side of the pond.

Virginia Tech offers pretty prestigious academic degrees, but it's also well-known when it comes to sports. Although American football (where the school generates most of its revenue) and basketball are by far the most popular sports here, we have several Olympic athletes from other sports. The most well-known alumni among the track and field crowd are probably female sprinters Queen Harrison and Kristi Castlin, who I've met in person when they visited. My days on campus are usually chock-full of things to do – for an example, let's take a look at one fall Tuesday.

Sara's day

My day starts around 7:30. I'm not much of a morning person, so being able to wake up at this time is quite the luxury. I throw on my gym clothes and head for the University's campus bus, whose route happens to go right by my apartment. I live off-campus with two other athletes – Barbora Malikova from the Czech Republic and Victoria Gorlova from Russia. Living on-campus is also a possibility, though it's more expensive. The bus brings me to the campus athletics mecca, Cassell Coliseum, where athletes can have breakfast at a place called Nutrition Oasis.

At Oasis, which is open daily, each athlete gets five points to use each day. Each product “costs” one point. I can use these five points at any point during the day, but I use them for breakfast, since Cassell's other dining option, the SAPC (Student-Athlete Performance Center) is open for athletes Monday through Thursday during lunch and dinner. Back at Oasis, I'll usually have a bagel, an egg and cottage cheese. The two extra points I might use on something I can easily take with me. Unfortunately, they don't serve coffee, so usually I make my own at home before heading out the door.

Cassell also has athlete locker rooms, where I drop off or pick up my stuff before morning training sessions. The practice itself takes place in Rector Field House, Virginia Tech's athletics facility. My coach, Andrew Dubs, tries to put together the best possible practice groups based on each thrower's lecture schedule, which isn't an impossible task with our team of eight throwers.

Morning training

Luckily all my lectures are in the afternoon or evening, so I can go train first thing in the morning when I'm fresh – and when two discus throwers, Essence Henderson and Vlad Pucko, also train. I've been very satisfied with our group, because we each have goals that will take us beyond the NCAA – it brings a lot of good drive to our daily activities.

This fall we've had just one practice per day, which lasts the whole morning. After practice, I usually stop by to say hello to our “trainers”, who are basically physiotherapists for our 100-person athletics team. They might give me a short massage, or we might go through the physiotherapy exercises that they've prepared for each of us. Muscle conditioning works a little differently here than in Finland since the trainers are on duty all the time. Of course, there are roughly one hundred athletes on the team, so each athlete is also responsible for keeping up their own exercise regimen.

After training and muscle conditioning, I head back to Cassell’s locker room to make myself look like a human again, then go upstairs to the SAPC for lunch. Of course, there are countless student dining options on campus, but SAPC is easily my favourite because they offer a lot of fresh and healthy food – plus, for athletes, it’s free. Lunch is also a good opportunity to chat with athletes from other sports. Many also use this time to study, which I try to do myself…unless my friends happen to be eating at the same time.

Coursework and hobbies, too

After lunch, I walk across campus for lectures. I'm majoring in public relations with a minor in organisational leadership. My minor is fascinating, and I've enjoyed it a lot. Going to school in itself isn't too demanding, in my opinion, but it does take work. At first, of course, I had to work hard at the language, because English was never easy for me in school. These days, three years later, it's hardly a problem – a welcome relief.

After lectures, I head back to the other side of campus again for dinner at the SAPC, where I meet up with my teammates to catch up on all the pressing global issues of the day. Dinner finished, sometimes I go downstairs to the sauna (it's a dry sauna, so not quite like home, but it's something...) and cold plunge, but usually I save those for the weekend. After that it's back home, where I study for a bit and then settle quietly into bed.

This day didn't include anything extracurricular, but since the campus offers a huge number of clubs and activities, last year I also felt the need to do something. I joined the VT PRISM ad agency, which is entirely student-run and supervised by a few professors. I'm also part of SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee), which helps athletes' voices be heard. Naturally these extra commitments add to my workload, but I think of them more as hobbies.

Although my days are quite fast-paced and I'm always busy, I can’t complain at all. This kind of schedule can get challenging – especially when exams are coming up and every project under the sun is piling up, but here at Virginia Tech, everything is so well-organised that the only thing left to do is enjoy every moment.

• Sara Killinen, Lapua-based hammer thrower

• Personal Record 71.02m

• Studying Public Relations and Organisational Leadership at Virginia Tech