1,000-day countdown to Olympics inspires the golden girl Cook

Published on Friday 30 October 2009 22:20

WITH exactly 1,000 days to go before the start of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, every major building project is now under way. The external structure of the Olympic Stadium itself is complete, and more than £530million of private finance has been raised to fund the games.

The organisers are confident that the stadiums which are being built for London 2012 will continue to be of use to the community for generations to come, and that the games will therefore have a positive, lasting impact. According to one celebrated British Olympian, indeed, that positive impact is already being felt.

Stephanie Cook, the modern pentathlon gold medallist from Sydney 2000, is a member of the London athletes' committee, an advisory group which aims to ensure the best possible conditions for the competitors. She is confident the countdown to 2012 is encouraging a new generation to become more active – something which, as a doctor, she knows could be of lifelong benefit.

"The mere fact that the Olympic Games are coming to London means that youngsters are being inspired to take up sport," she said. "From the start of London's bid to host the games there has been a lot of emphasis on youth getting involved and then keeping up that involvement.

"The habits children get into while they are young, whether good or bad, tend to be maintained throughout life. And from my point of view as a doctor, sport is a crucial factor in improving the health of the nation.

"So the legacy of London 2012 is not just about bricks and mortar. Obviously the arenas and stadiums that are being built will be a part of it, but it's far more widespread than that.

"It's more about the way in which sport can change people's lives, channelling energy in a positive way. It can help to reduce crime by keeping kids off the street, and encourage them to adopt a healthier lifestyle – less sitting in front of a computer and more activity."

Now based in East Sussex, where she is retraining as a GP after originally qualifying as a surgeon, Cook is especially aware of the obesity epidemic in the UK. "It's not just adults either – it's becoming an increasing issue amongst children, and it's important to try to break this trend now before it becomes established and has a real impact on the National Health Service."

Although she lives in the south-east, Cook was born in Irvine. Being from an English family, however, and having left Ayrshire when aged just two, she admits deciding which nation to represent would have been a dilemma had the choice ever arisen.

"My parents were Oxford born and bred, and it was only for work reasons that they were living in Scotland when I was born. But I have always supported the Scotland rugby team, and I have kept up a lot of links with people in Scotland.

"Modern pentathlon is not a Commonwealth Games sport, so whether to represent Scotland or England never became an issue for me. If it had done, my decision may have depended on the strength of the competition at the time."

In reality, Cook need never have worried about being edged out of a Scottish or English team by any of her competitors. She was a natural at modern pentathlon, and could have walked into any team in the world.

Her time at the top was short, by choice. She only became a full-time athlete in late 1999, and hung around after Sydney for just another year, winning European and world championships to go with her Olympic title.

Cook won that title the hard way, coming from behind in the final event, the cross-country run, in which competitors went off in a handicap start according to how many points they had accumulated in the previous four sports. After ploughing through most of the field, she felt exhausted by the time she was up to third, and was tempted to settle for bronze.

Instead, inspired by her team-mates who had won gold earlier in the fortnight, she fought on. Her reward was not just a title and a medal, but the adulation which awaited her – and took her by surprise – on her return to the UK.

"It was a bit of a shock when I flew back home and realised I was on the front of all the broadsheets," she recalled. "The reaction was just amazing, and I think that built up throughout the games.

"It began on the first day with Jason Queally winning our first gold in cycling. We (the modern pentathletes] were among the last to compete, and as the two weeks wore on we became accustomed to seeing team-mates who had been with us in the training camp win gold medals. All of a sudden our goals seemed attainable."

&#149 Steph Cook was interviewed courtesy of Atos Origin, the worldwide IT partner of the Olympic Games.