What a day! I arrived to the Birmingham NEC and had a good wander round, looking at all the bikes. I tracked down my friend Simon from Bell&Ross and helped educate him in the world of bikes as he had done the same for me a few weeks ago with watches. We both had on our Warrs custom T-shirts out of respect for our good friend Charlie who custom makes bikes of all types but mostly Harley Davidsons.

Time was ticking and I was so excited to see this new superbike. All I can say is WOW what a bike! I have sat on a great number of bikes in my time and even though I just sat on it I knew it would fit well and ride well – I just had a good vibe from it. It reminded me how I used to feel when I first sat on the Ducati 916 and the 1098. Perfect. After some pictures and orange juice (the celebrity life I lead!) I had to get the train up north to see my coach for solid training over the next few days. I do so hope to ride this bike soon and when I do I will let you know my thoughts.

I met up with my friends Charlie Stockwell from Warrs Customs, James Thompson from Black Badger jewellery, and Simon from Bell&Ross. I took out my Ozwald Boateng suit to fit in with the suited and booted crowd. What a cool event this was – I had never been to a watch event before and to be perfectly honest I didn’t know what to expect. The world of watches is incredible, fine watches that looked stunning and with generations of craftsmanship. Just breath taking.

I met a lot of people but nearing the end of the evening I met Pietro Tomajer (Vice President Sales), and Eric Loth, (Founder of Graham watches) a British watch company since the 17th century. I spoke with these gentlemen and realised how much in common I had with Graham and its brand mentality.

At the end of the evening the boys and I went for meal at Benihana and had great fun. I look forward to meeting up with the lads again soon.

It was a fantastic day where we had the chance to ride any Ducati bike at the amazing silverstone race track. I headed straight for the 1198s and within 2 laps I had my knee down, loving the unbelievable rush out of the corners. I have always loved the Ducati superbike range and this was an incredible experience. I then went for the Streetfighter as I thought this would be a great bike for the road – WOW! It’s very comfortable and even on track with the respectable 1098 engine it went like a bat out of hell, still being extremely sure footed in the bends. It was very easy to ride fast.

This was also the first time most people had seen the Diavel. Yet again a mind-blowing bike. It was so fast I almost lost my head on the back straight, still with incredible traction control keeping me on track!

Later on that evening we visited the HQ at the official opening. The hospitality was great and the CEO of Ducati graced the UK with his presence to open the event. Not a late evening, it was an incredible day and I thank the Ducati UK team for inviting me to be part of the opening. Lets hope we get the chance to ride the 1199 soon.

On Monday 21 November I got to the View tube at 09:00am where I had some photo’s with Tessa Sanderson (1984 Olympic gold medalist in the javelin), Ron Gainsford (chief executive trading standards institute TSI) chairing the launch, Gillian Guy (chief executive citizens advice), Farisha Constable (brand manager of London organising committee Olympic Games LOCOG)

Mike Roylance who is the brand manager of Adidas spoke about the fake T-shirts issues and Tessa Sanderson and myself spoke of our experiences with fraud and internet scams.

I enjoyed being part of a event that had directly affected me when I was involved in an internet scam earlier in the year. It was important to be able to make people aware of the issues surrounding the internet and current problems around the consumer and the Olympic games next year 2012.

The operation was a great success and although the general anesthetic knocked me pretty badly, I was straight into rehab and focusing on re-building my groin area and dissolving any scar tissue that was forming post surgery. A very uncomfortable process, but with the guidance of Mark Buckingham (the best physio in the UK) I was soon back on top of my training.

With Mark’s experienced guidance, he quickly identified an area which needed my next immediate attention. The dreaded Achilles. Due to repetitive training and jumping on that foot from a young age, and then followed by an Achilles rupture in 2006, a large calcareous bone growth had built on the back on my ankle. With large, I mean the size of a small plum. Not only was it causing me discomfort during training, it was robbing me of 2 inches of flexion within the Achilles, which would as a jumper directly affect the jumping height. Imagine a small cat. Watch how easily it can jump onto a ledge or furniture much higher than their own body – this is due to the large lever type foot that they have. If as humans we had our legs attached the other way round (imagine the feet going into the hips) we also would be able to jump much higher. Now take away 2 inches from our already limited range, and I could see why I was getting frustrated at my progress.

On January 11th, 2010 I went back under a general anesthetic to have the bone removed. Ouch. The surgery was a great success, under the hands of an experienced orthopedic surgeon Prof. Ribbons (he did Michael Schumacher’s neck surgery). After the surgery, healing was slow. It was difficult to remember that unlike my hernia operation, bone heals very differently to muscles and tendons. Mark explained that it was more of a waiting game, rather than an active rehab, and although terribly frustrating it had to be done.

We are now at the start of March 2010, and I’ve been given a clean bill of health to commence my rehab and build up. I’ll be writing much more regularly about my training and my progress this year, so I do hope you’ll stay in touch as I love to hear from my supporters and fans out there. As for all you budding high jumpers who write very regularly to me, keep up the good work and hopefully I’ll see you at a competition one day soon!

Just back at my good friend Anton’s house in Gothenburg and thought I would update people on my first competition. It was cloudy today, but 20 degrees, so pretty much perfect for jumping. It was funny, as I was so nervous for such a small competition, saying that the Swedish people are very supportive as I wore the local club vest.

My warm up was perfect 2 metres first time, 2.05 first time and very very close to 2.15 in warm up. Like all competitions there was always a little bit of messing about and they made us wait 40 mins before we competed. But this is normal.

I started at 2.05m and cleared first time. I felt a little bit close and Yannick agreed so we brought it back a foot. The same went for 2.10m, I cleared it first time and felt a little bit close, so brought it back another foot. Went to 2.14m and failed all three attempts, but was happy to get the cobwebs out whilst still working on run up and technique with my coach Yannick.

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It was good because I enjoyed it which has been a good few years since I have been able to say that. My beautiful girlfriend came with me to support me and the whole team was also supportive. My team mate Emma Green jumped really well and it was good as it spurred me on.

Yannick was very positive and pointed out my faults which I felt while jumping and he said that there is alot more to come this year which is good. This year is just about working on technique and getting a good base for world domination next year. BOOOOOOOM

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The first day typically is never a ball-breaker, as people have traveled long and far and the worst thing you can do when your body is tired is stress it more. Jog, stretch and basic drills was the order of the day, which would set us up real nice for the two week period. Got the chance to chat with Yannick to make sure we were both seeing eye to eye on my training. After telling me he was very happy and could see me jumping high again, it meant alot coming from him, as Yannick never minces his words.

My first trip to South Africa was a massive learning curve for me and at times I felt left behind on everything, but this trip to Portugal I felt light, sharp, focused and more importantly, getting my confidence back whilst jumping.

My bounding has been a main focus, generally through my whole training as the most important thing this year is to get my strength up on that aspect. Every time I go in the gym, I get so strong and muscle bound I have strength equal to the incredible hulk. It sounds great, but when your trying to jump over a stick that’s higher than your ceiling, it tends not to be so cool. This is why I’m not lifting much this year, but stepping up my plyos. Thank god I’ve done this, because I’m now jumping like I should!

In South Africa, the beginning of the year, my overhead shot was 25 metres. Which might not mean much to most of you, but as a high jumper, I was as strong as a thrower! Which yet again, but I’m not wanting to get the green makeup out quite yet. Saying that, kicking the rest of the teams ass was always fun.

When I got to Portugal, I thought this would be the same deal, but I was wrong. I was still kicking their butts, but I was down a few metres. Which scared me to start with, until Yannick told me that my body strength had started to shift towards my jumping. This is what going with the best high jump coach in the world means. He takes each individual and treats them as an individual, what works for me might not work for another and vice versa. He has the knowledge and confidence to produce performance.

Christian Olsson doing the overhead shot

Before I met Yannick and the group, I always enjoyed my training, but got scared when jumping. Now, when I jump, it’s fun, exciting and more importantly high. The jumping I did in Portugal was some of my best ever training jumps. Normally I only jump high in competitions, so looking forward to all the hard work coming together.

In the evenings there was nothing to do, so it normally went dinner; sit in reception; have a hot chocolate or a tea; listen to the entertainment; talk shop and then go to bed. One night I was the entertainment and played the bongos like you’ve never heard. Kind of goes with having a father as a drummer. ooooh the rock and roll lifestyle I lead!

Yannick my new coach is a breath of fresh air from all the other coaches in the system. Not to say the other coaches are bad, but his ethos and style is what I’ve been looking for since my decline as a high jumper. Yannick and his talented wife Emma, both are helping me so much in my high jumping.

The group makes me feel like a brother and each of them help me as they would a sibling. Christian Olsson the godfather, not only lets me stay in his house, but even lets me beat him at playstation, which I know must be hard to swallow. Christian and his beautiful snugin wife Gordana feed and water me, in presidented ways.

My little brother Martyn Ericsson has perfect technique with drills and runs like Carl Lewis, constantly helping me with my grasp of the Swedish language (puss puss – is that wrong?!). Uncle Anton is always the passionate one of the group. He breaks down everything for me with great love. Mathias Strom baby of the group, but by no means in talent. This 6ft 7 friendly giant is the future of the group and a sweetheart.

The rest of the team, who I’m just getting to know all seem positive and friendly. Next stop Portugal. See you guys there!

Why is it so important to have the right clothes? Well unless you like to train naked (which believe me I’m very pleased the Olympics no longer require their athletes to do so), you need the right clothing to protect you from the elements and make sure you can train in comfort and ease.

The body naturally sweats as you workout or train, and its imperative that you wear materials that allow the body to breathe, whilst still protecting the skin and giving the best insulation and wind protection.

As a professional athlete I’ve trained in the height of an Ethiopian summer to a cold Swedish winter, and trust me I know my training kit!

In later blogs I’m going to go into specific items of equipment and clothes that I prefer to train with, but for the time being enjoy browsing my range of products, and know that each and every one of them has been hand picked and chosen by me!

Rossi is an Italian professional motorcycle racer and multiple MotoGP World Champion. He is one of the most successful motorcycle racers of all time, with 8 Grand Prix World Championships to his name.

Motorbikes have been a passion of mine ever since I could get on one. My neighbour was a professional motorbike racer, and I used to help him when I was 7 with the mechanics of the bike. Slowly I developed my own passion for the amazing machines, and I have ridden every type of bike you can. My previous bike was a Yamaha R1, but I have just bought the new MV Aagusta 312 R. I test rode the 1198S Ducati, the new Yamaha R1 and the Honda CBR 900 Fireblade, however the MV stole my heart. Having owned many Ducati’s in the past, and owned many Japanese bikes, the natural progression seemed to be the best of both worlds. Italian looks, Japanese speed. I can’t wait to get her out on the track in May and fulfill my need for speed.

I regularly take part in track days, as I love the rush of the open track, the commoradory amongst bikers, and the thrill of pushing my limits in a safe environment. Because of my current skill level, I can claim the famous ‘knee down position’, and I can’t wait to try it on my new MV.

This is me at Brands Hatch with my knee down!

Enjoy this video of Rossi, and hopefully soon I’ll get a video up of me on the track!

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