Interview with Kelly Holmes

Q: “The Olympics is for under thirties only.” Do you think that's true?

A: No that’s rubbish!

Kelly Holmes: Of course it's not for under thirties. All different sports have many established athletes and when I won my two gold medals in Athens I was actually 34, and I went to my second Olympics at the age of 30.

Q: “Doing sports is useless in normal life.” Do you agree?

A: No that’s rubbish!

Kelly Holmes: Of course it is! The reason why I believe sport is good for you is because it raises your confidence and your self esteem. It's great leadership work, discipline, life skills, communication skills, which I think is good for everybody in normal life. So, take it up. As well as being healthy and looking good, I think sport is great for everybody.

Q: “London will have a lot to live up to after Beijing.” Do you agree?

A: Yes, that’s right!

Kelly Holmes: I really believe that Beijing will host fantastic games. From the energy that it puts in, the visual effects of the opening and closing ceremony and also they have about ten million Beijing people already bought tickets for the games! So in terms of everybody being there, the energy, the enthusiasm, the spectacular events, I think that we've got a lot to hold up to. But I really believe that we can outshine them and hold the best games ever.

Q: “Everyone thought I'd win gold in Athens, and that was a great help to me.” Do you think that is true?

A: No, that’s not true!

Kelly Holmes: There's a lot of people that didn't think I'd have much chance of winning a gold medal in Athens at the age of 34, but funny enough, that actually helped me, because I went away, trying to concentrate and focus on my athletics and what happened was is the pressure was taken off me because I didn't do any interviews with the media. There was a lot of focus on Paula Radcliffe that really had the gold medal put around her neck. I wouldn't have liked to be in her position! Because what happened with me – I had no pressure at all. I think I was a safe bet for a medal, but at the age of 34, I don't think many people thought I would have come back with one gold medal, let alone two. So I proved all of them wrong, and I proved all my fans and my family and my self and my coach and all my team right.

Q: “School sports were very important for me.” Do you think that's true?

A: Yes, that’s right!

Kelly Holmes: Yes, of course school sports is where it all started for me. I was actually inspired by my PE teacher Debbie Page from Tonbridge School in Kent, who is still actually the PE teacher there today. When I was twelve years old she put me in a cross country race and I really didn't want to do it because it meant mud, wind, wet, cold… I had an afro hairdo that was huge and I thought that was a bit of wind resistance and it was just an awful day and I really didn't want to go there. But I ended up coming second against a girl that was really great for our age group, and what it did – it made me think: next time I could win. So, from that moment I went back to school and joined the athletics club. My PE teacher got me to go to an athletics club in Tonbridge and that's where it started. So, school sport was really important to me. I actually also liked it because it gave me a chance to meet new people and make a lot of friends. And I think that's what's important for youngsters these days. It gave me a lot of good communications skills but also I had fun and enjoyed my time at school.

Q: “Bullying in school is just a part of life.” Do you agree?

A: No, that’s rubbish!

Kelly Holmes: The reason I'm involved in the anti- bullying campaign is because I believe that nobody deserves to be bullied or treated badly, especially at school. But it should be stamped out and "beat bullying" – one of the organisations that I'm ambassador for, are really trying hard to make sure that we stand up against bullying and children are given the means to have a voice and to be able to actually tell the teacher or tell an adult when that is happening so we can stamp it out of schools.

Q: “Life's been easy for me since I started running at school”. Do you think that's true?

A: No, that’s not true!

Kelly Holmes: Throughout my career I've had so many different down times and emotional roller coaster. First of all, being an athlete for me was all about striving to be the best I could be. I've had seven years of injuries out of 10. Even though I won ten major medals, at major championships. And when you go through those injury times it's very hard to always stay as positive and focused on what you believe in. My ultimate goal was to be Olympic champion and the reason why I went through the bad times was because that was my vision and dream to come true. I went through stress fractures, ruptured calves, torn Achilles, glandular fever, tonsillitis, damaged nerves in my back and my femoral nerve in my leg, everything – trying to strive to be the best, on top of the pressure which I had actually a year before I won my two gold medals, and that was purely because I thought that my dream was never gonna come true. And when you've been somebody that striven so hard, been dedicated, committed, and pretty much given their life to that one dream, there's only so many times you can get knocked down. But actually, if you have that goal and vision you can always get back up. And I always believe and say to people that no matter what in life, it's never gonna be easy, and those people that get through the bad time are the ones who come out on top. And I think I've proven that by only a year later, after the worst time of my life having the best time of my life by winning two gold medals. So, let's try another question

Q: “After I left school I became a full time athlete.” Do you think that's true?

A: No, that’s not true!

Kelly Holmes: From the age of 14, I had two dreams – one was to be an Olympic champion, but the other was to be in the army as a physical training instructor. I joined the army just before my 18th birthday, and actually joined as an HGV driver, just so I can get into the army. When I was 21, I became a physical training instructor and I left the army in 1997. Why I got back into my athletics career is because I watched a young girl called Lisa York, who I used to race against when I was junior, running in the 1992 Barcelona games. And by seeing her at those Olympic games made me realise my other dream was still alive and I wanted to get back running again, so I started to run for the army and than later on I ran in international races and I won my first ever gold medal in the 1994 Commonwealth Games and a silver medal at the European championships that year. I went on later to win two medals at the World Championships in 1995 at the age of 25 and my dream was still alive. I went to my first Olympics games at the age of 26 in Atlanta.

Q: Am I a cat person or a dog person?

A: Cat person?

Kelly Holmes: No, I'm not a cat person. Actually, I had a little cat called Candy when I was younger and she always like clawed me, so it kind of put me off cats at quite a young age. So, sorry, you're wrong

A: Dog person?

Kelly Holmes: Yeah, you're right, I love dogs. I've got two dogs from rescue homes. They're both cross breeds – one's a cross between Alsatian and a Lurcher, and the other one between a Staff and a Lurcher – quite weird looking and colorful but I love them to bits! One's called Whitney and the other one's called Barney and they're both now ten years old, but they used to train with me when they were a bit younger.

Q: What's my favorite movie?

A: ‘Chariots of Fire’?

Kelly Holmes: No, it's not ‘Chariots of Fire’. I really love that movie, it's iconic and certainly being Olympian it gives goose bumps up my neck, but no, it's the wrong answer, so try another answer

A: ‘Anchorman’?

Kelly Holmes: I have never actually heard of ‘Anchorman’. I know Chris Hoy really likes it but I haven't heard of it, sorry, so try another one

A: ‘The Shawshank Redemption’?

Kelly Holmes: Yeah, that is right. ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ is an amazing movie. I really love it, I think it's so powerful and I've watched it for years, and I've actually watched that movie 20 times, bit sad I know, but I love it, so well done.

Q: What was the first record I ever bought?

A: Foo Fighters?

Kelly Holmes: You must be joking; it wasn't my first record I ever bought. I did actually like them though, I must admit, but try another answer

A: The Beatles?

Kelly Holmes: No, Beatles are definitely not my sort of music I'm afraid, so try another one.

A: Boney M?

Kelly Holmes: Yeah, absolutely, my first record ever was Boney M ‘Brown Girl in the Ring’. And the little story about that was it was played when I was in primary school, and I lived in Kent and I was the only mixed race girl in school, so they put me in the middle of the ring and I loved it because I was the sugar in the plum plum plum… oh dear…

Q. How tall do you think I am?

A: 6 foot tall?

Kelly Holmes: I wish I was. Gee, I don't know what you've been watching but anyway you're wrong.

A: Five foot seven?

Kelly Holmes: Five foot seven would be my optimum height and I'd love to be that tall, but sorry you're wrong.

A: Five foot three?

Kelly Holmes: Yes, unfortunately you're right. I am only five foot three. And every time I meet people they always say to me how small I look, and my only answer to it is I probably filled up the screen when I was an athlete cause I have a really bouncy stride, and when you're bouncing up high and you only see us (in close-up) on the screen, it looks like I'm as tall as everyone else, but unfortunately I was pretty small for an athlete. Maybe quite big muscular frame, but I'm tiny…

Q: When I was in the army what was my other sport apart from running?

A: Swimming?

Kelly Holmes: No, definitely not, I hate swimming with a passion! In fact I couldn't swim until I was 18 years old, and I had to force myself to learn just so I could get myself into the army

A: Cycling?

Kelly Holmes: No, unfortunately it's not cycling, although I have bought a new bike now, and I actually cycle more than I run these days, but it's not the right answer.

A: Judo?

Kelly Holmes: Yes, Judo, you're right. Actually, when I was in the army Judo was my favorite sport and I became army Judo champion and got my blue belt. I had to give up Judo to carry on with my athletics career when I left the army, but Judo was right, so well done!

Q: What’s it like to win a gold medal?

Kelly Holmes: For me to win a gold medal was an absolute dream come true. From the age of 14, I dreamt of being Olympic champion by watching Sebastian Coe win a gold medal in the 1500 meters in the Olympics in 1984. And from that day, every day I woke up my dream was to be an Olympic champion also. I've been to three Olympic games – coming fourth in the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta (with a stress fracture), third in the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney, after only six weeks of track preparation, and finally in age 34 I won two gold medals in Athens. The pictures of my face probably said it all really – my eyes popping out of my head after winning the 800 meters was what it seemed like – a bit of shock, cause I didn't really believe I could be the 800 meters Olympic champion, absolute reality that I'd won Olympic gold medal and the 1500 meters – it was an absolute dream come true, because when I was 14 it was the 1500 meters that I wanted to be Olympic champion at, so I think, me crossing the line, the look on my face would absolutely tell the story.