It is so helpful to have close friends going through the same thing as you, that have a deep level of understanding of how it all feels, how the pressure feels, and who you can speak to about things that maybe don't seem so important to others. I have had my group WhatsApp chat with British team-mates Dina Asher-Smith and Morgan Lake for years. March 2023 - won European Indoor long jump gold.Aug 2022 - won European long jump bronze.July 2016 - won European long jump silver.July 2014 - won Commonwealth long jump silver.July, 2012 - won World Junior long jump bronze.Jan 2012 - won Winter Youth Olympic bobsleigh silver.She was an incredibly talented athlete but she just worked really hard and it hit me then that there is no secret, magic thing going on. My first experience of realising elite athletes are just normal people with self-belief who work hard was when I got to train with Jessica Ennis-Hill. It can be easy to look at elite athletes and think they must be doing something special, or that they must have something I don't. I love to keep busy.Īs is having high-achieving friends who are doing seemingly ridiculous things - it humanises the process. Having a variety of hobbies, which for me includes sewing a dress or tinkering around with a guitar trying to write a song during my recovery time, is really helpful in taking my mind away from obsessing over setbacks in sport.
THINGS REMEMBERED RETURN POLICY SERIES
Learning from Jessica Ennis-Hill & leaning on friends Among Sawyers' interests is singing and she competed in the TV series The Voice in 2017 - where she was chosen by coach will.i.am Snatching bronze at that competition, in the final round, reminded me that I am capable and it renewed my hunger for it. I didn't want to be there, but as soon as I stood on the runway I remembered how much I love it. That feeling persisted until the outdoor European Championships a few weeks later. Not being able to do it then, in front of a home crowd, with my family there and in perfect conditions, it felt like evidence that I couldn't do it any more. I should have been able to get on that podium and it stayed in my head for longer than usual. My fourth-place finish at the Commonwealth Games last year in Birmingham felt like the lowest point in my career. There were times I doubted myself, especially during a six-year drought when I didn't stand on an international podium. If I'm feeling it, you're going to see it. I'm not one to control my emotions very well. Then there's the utter shock.Īll those things came crashing in on me at once, causing one big reaction. The belief I had over the past 10 years wasn't misplaced. I knew I was right, that I could actually do this. I'm leading with one round remaining, I've just broken the British indoor record and I've set a huge personal best.īut it was also relief. It's really hard to explain all the different feelings I had in the moments which followed.įirst of all, it's just elation. It had started to feel like a pipe dream. Jumping seven metres is a goal I have had for so long. It was easily the best moment I've experienced in my career, especially because I wasn't expecting it. Now, in those hardest moments, when I need a bit of extra motivation, I think of that winning feeling. To finally stand on top of the podium, hear the national anthem and see the union jack rise because I'd won - I wouldn't swap that moment for anything.īut it has also made me greedier because now I know what gold feels like. Winning European gold made all the difficult times and the losses worthwhile. In the heat of a championship is my favourite place to be, but until March this year I'd never taken gold, and I'd been underestimating just how good it would feel to win.
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