Ex Olympic 800m, World Indoor Bronze Medallist and British Record Holder.

Over the forthcoming Famously Fit issues, I will write some articles that will hopefully be inspirational and informative. As an introduction, I wanted to summarise my journey as a Great Britain Olympic Athlete.

I was an International 800m athlete for over 8 years competing at World class level in major Championships such as World Championships, Commonwealth Games, European Championships and Olympic Games.

I have travelled all over the world wearing the British Vest and flying the flag and it has been an amazing journey. During my days as an athlete, I lived and breathed Athletics. My journey as an athlete was like a Rollercoaster ride.

I had plenty of ups....and plenty of downs. Sometimes, I just wanted to get off the ride and lie down somewhere quiet and dark! But there was this voice in my head beckoning me back onto the ride as I secretly lived for the adrenalin rush and the thrill.

Sport can do that, it’s about Passion, Pride and Pain.... sometimes in that order too! it’s exciting, overwhelming and most of all fulfilling. Sport is about being better, defying the odds, striving for excellence and living a healthy life.

When you discover that you have a thirst for Sport, for training, for competing and for striving to be better, it takes over. It feeds you, fuels you and in the process, captivates others and makes everyone feel good.

When I ran in front of 80,000 people at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, at the start of my race on the line waiting for the gun to bang, I closed my eyes and thought...this is the moment... right here. Hold that thought, press the pause button, bottle it and save it because this does not happen every day. This is special. This is the moment that I can tell my Grand children. I can play it back in my mind for the rest of my life. It’s a timeless and priceless memory.

When I won my Bronze medal at World Indoor Championships a few months earlier, I had one of those moments. I had a bad cold a few days before and had to race sensibly and tactically as I knew that I was not going to be able to race hard in the first 400m, so I bided my time and had to be very patient and confident in my own ability.

So I waited and waited and waited and picked up the pace and came through strong as other competitors began to tire. I had won my first World Class Medal. I was ranked third in the whole world at 800m. Wow! I had a moment that I will never forget. Pride.

It had only taken 13 years to win that medal. Why? As a teenager, I had struggled with injuries and by the time I reached 24, I had undergone five operations and a stress fracture. Pain. People had written me off, put me on the scrap heap and forgot about me. I had not written me off, I had could not forget about me and neither could my friends and family. They knew what made me happy.

They had supported me throughout and were going to continue supporting me. Passion. My medal represented my passion, pride and pain but also my friends and families too. 13 years of operations, blood, sweat and tears finally moulded itself into a medal.

It’s important to keep positive, it’s important to be patient and it’s important to always keep that fire burning.. Life is Passion, Pride and Pain. Sport has taught me everything. The memories I have will always be fresh inside and my desire to always keep a healthy mind and body will remain.

In the next issue of Famously Fit, I will talk about non impact training as I spent several hours, days and months rehabbing . Making small steps was a huge part of my rehab. Being patient and setting goals is hugely important for anyone coming back from injury so next time, I will give you some tips on how to take small steps, use your body and mind to overcome pain and frustration.

I will also highlight some non impact training techniques that will make you even stronger when you do comeback. I hope that you all continue to look after your body and I can guarantee that it will look after you.

Thank you for reading.

Jo X

Next Time:The Impact of Non impact training...