Olympic Athlete. Speaker. Coach. Woman of Faith.
I compete tomorrow for the first time in nine months. How do I feel? Nervous. But then again… because the science tells me the physiological response my body has to the label "nervous" or "nerves" is the same as to the label "excitement" or "excited", I drop the nerves and pick up excitement only. (NLP… Continue reading It’s Competition Time!
I first competed at the Commonwealth Games (albeit the youth version) in 2008. Fourteen years later, I've been selected to represent Team England at my first (real) Commonwealth Games (the Commonwealth Youth Games doesn't count at the Senior performance level). If I'm honest, this one has taken longer to achieve than my Olympic dream. In… Continue reading 14 Years Later… I’m Going to The Commonwealth Games!
But that's not what I want to share with you in this post; I want to give you the insider's view of the Olympic experience, including shadowing my steps from my arrival at Heathrow airport, Terminal 5 to the Team GB holding camp in Yokohama, Japan to entering the Olympic village filled with athletes from countless sports and nations across the world and my first look at the incredible stadium - devoid of people, but filled with the weight of expectation and thick with the anticipation of competitors, coaches and citizens of Japan, volunteering to guide, encourage and cheer us on. Are you ready? It's a long read...
When finishing 11th in the world feels like failure. That’s what I originally wanted to title this blog in the immediate aftermath of my Olympic final. But thankfully I’ve had a week to reflect. (I drafted this blog on 10th August!) With friends, family and fans of the sport sending encouraging messages and celebrating my… Continue reading My Olympic Debrief: I’m An Olympic Finalist + BONUS Coaching Tips!
I'M GOING TO TOKYO! I'M GOING TO BE AN OLYMPIAN! Ah! Glad I've got that off my chest! How does it feel to be selected to represent Team GB at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games? A relief. I don’t yet feel the excitement everybody seems to be feeling around me. I'm not buzzing or over… Continue reading MY OLYMPIC UPDATE: WE MADE IT!
“People with PTSD have their floodgates wide open. Lacking a filter, they are on constant sensory overload. In order to cope, they try to shut themselves down and develop tunnel vision and hyper-focus. If they can’t shut down naturally, they may enlist drugs or alcohol to block out the world. The tragedy is that the… Continue reading Acceptance – ‘Achieving’ Post-Traumatic Growth
On this day in 2008, twelve years ago, I received the frustrating news that I’d once again been missed off the ‘Talent’ program for UKAthletics Funding. It seems this was my second year failing to be selected for this program (as per my silly Facebook rant - I have a love-hate relationship with these FB… Continue reading On This Day…
Fuelled by positive media write-ups Did you see these two articles written by the Finnish media about me the day preceding the Paavo Nurmi Games, Turku? It may sound odd, but reading these gave me a confidence-boost despite the interrupted preparation. Because it made me think, well, if they want to share my story with… Continue reading Competition 1 Debrief: Paavo Nurmi Games, Turku Finland
Hey guys, at the weekend Instagram reminded me that I ruptured my Achilles four years ago. (Thanks, Insta...) Anyway, that got me thinking, along with other questions that I received following sharing the post - how did I recover so well? What got me through the other side? How am I doing now? So here's… Continue reading 4 years on from Achilles Tendon Rupture – My Recovery Lessons for Lockdown
There is always hope. That's the spiel I'm constantly spouting, anyway. But what happens when another major event is pulled from the competition calendar? What happens when another 'big' one bites the dust? Argh! Tbh, I was frustrated for a brief moment, gutted and then I moved on. Again, it was like...I expected it. How… Continue reading No Olympics, No Euros, No Season?