Q&A WITH OUR ATHLETE AMBASSADORS
6th February marked National Girls and Women in Sports Day - a day held to recognise female athletes and those committed to equality in sport. We speak to a few of our Westlab ambassadors to find out what motivates them, how they define success, and what can be done to encourage more girls to follow their sporting dreams.
Our featured althete ambassadors are:
Jazz Crawford, international GB sprinter; Rebecca Campsall, elite international level GB track and field athlete; Rachel Miller, international GB 100m sprinter, and Diani Walker, international GB 100m & 200m sprinter.
How do you relax after an event?
RM I love going to see my family and spending time with them. Eating food and having a good laugh always works for me.
DW I relax after my sporting events by taking a day off from the sport which includes training and any high intensity activities. Immediately after I have a cool down ice bath, and a minimum of 4 hours before I have a hot warm bath containing my favourite Westlab Epsom Salts.
JC I run a lovely bath and add some Epsom and Himalayan Salts. Then I light some candles and watch a movie.
RC Eat, bath, sleep! The feeling after you’ve competed is great but you feel completely wiped out. It makes no sense because you’d do way more than 1 or 2 reps of 100 metres in training but after a competition with a couple of rounds of a 100m or 200m you feel like you could literally just eat and pass out by the time you get home.
How would you define success as an athlete?
JC Success is patience, time and self-belief and a pinch of luck.
DW I would define it as 'not done yet'. I’ve achieved some goals, but I have a lot more goals left to achieve to feel complete in my athletics career.
RC Being the best version of you, in your own opinion. Being happy with what you have achieved and satisfied that you have given all you can to achieve your goal/goals.
RM Success for me means fulfilling your purpose. Everyone has a gift and accepting it, learning to love it and wholeheartedly working on it in the best way you can is a success in itself. You’ve already won.
What would you say is your greatest achievement in your althete career so far?
DW My greatest achievement is being able to race with the best in the world, and I aspire to be as successful as the top female athletes across the globe.
RM Earning my first GB vest and being selected to compete at the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow this March!
JC My greatest achievement is 3rd in the 4x100m in Euro Junior Championships. My first international competition.
RC Rather than one specific race/achievement/title I think my greatest achievement is maintaining the balance between being a lawyer and an elite level athlete. It’s challenging at times but I’m so happy to be able to pursue both alongside each other.
What advice would you give to a budding athlete?
JC Enjoy it. Don't give up and always believe in yourself.
RC Do it because you love it. If you love it work hard and enjoy yourself. If you don’t love it, do something else.
RM Training and physically working hard is only half the job done. In order to succeed at anything self belief is the key ingredient. Understand that when things don’t go as planned it doesn’t mean you have failed. They are lessons and tests to build character!
DW The advice I would give is to network to give yourself more opportunities to progress, believe in yourself, train harder than you think you can handle and be yourself, and humble.
What more do you think could be done to encourage girls to pursue a career in sport?
RC Encouraging participation in a wide range of sports at school level. Not everyone enjoys every sport, but there are so many sports that I am sure there is something for everyone - you just have to find the thing you like.
DW Encouraging girls to participate in being competitive at a young age. This Girl Can, for example, is a great campaign. And more semi/professional female representatives being put on platforms to encourage females to get into sport.
RM I think giving sportswomen the airtime and credibility they deserve is a start. My son didn’t even know that there was such thing as women's football which is an absolute shame! I think a lot more could be done in schools as well, like inviting sportswomen in on special days like ‘Women’s International Day’, and really celebrating their achievements.
JC We as girls and women are powerful. We are literally superwomen. Never disregard your ability and give it your all. You will be successful and you can be anything that you want to be.
