Kelly Holmes: Home truths

Published on Saturday 28 November 2009 19:57

SOME THINGS don't change. Kelly Holmes may be kitted out in six-inch stilettos and figure-hugging jeans rather than the trainers and tracksuits of old, she may now feature as prominently in board rooms as she once did on the track but one thing has remained constant, she doesn't like to be boxed in.

While there are the more predictable aspects to her life after Athens, with the charitable Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust to help people from disadvantaged communities, and the training camps aimed at helping junior athletes fulfil their potential and become world class performers, she has scurried off at tangents, too.

She is more involved in the administrative side of sport then she ever envisaged, but then again she envisaged very little beyond the 2004 Olympic finals in Greece.

"I never thought one second past my dream which was to be Olympic champion, not one second past it," she says smiling. "So in the new life, as I call it, you end up falling into things in a way because you get invited to different events or somebody might ask you to be an ambassador for something. But instead of just being the face of it, you end up thinking, 'actually I could give more to this, I could give advice or help' and I like getting involved. As an athlete you end up being very focused and determined and stubborn and a bit of a control freak, I suppose, but in the right way. I've always thought that if you are going to do something then do it properly, 100 per cent, and don't be afraid to look outside the boxes. I like to ask, 'have you thought of this or that?' And that's probably why I do a lot of the things I do now, because I have become a bit of a spokesperson, because I'm not afraid to say what I think and push the boundaries."

Competitive and feisty, she has the drive which saw her through the injuries and the lean times in her career, which bottomed out in well-documented self-harm sessions, then soared to dizzying heights in Athens in 2004, when she became the first British woman to win two Olympic golds at the same Games.

She says there is little she would envy others for after that, but with the Olympics coming to London in 2012, she admits there will be a tinge of regret that it didn't happen during her era. And she says if ever there was a time for Scottish sports people to be inspired and focused, it should be now. Two years after the Olympic jamboree, Glasgow will host the Commonwealth Games and she is well-versed on the extra surge of euphoria success on home turf can generate.

"In Manchester, for the 2002 Games, I ran and won a gold medal and it was dominated by England flags and it was just brilliant," says the woman who became President of Commonwealth Games England this year. "It was on the home turf and what is brilliant is that, for once, you have all your friends and family there to support you. My friends and family never came to any other major championships and I won 12 major medals in my career and they only saw this one because it was affordable and easy to get to and it meant a lot that they could see me compete. Those aiming for London 2012 and Glasgow should do everything to make the most of that opportunity."

She senses the message has already penetrated. People who have set themselves a more realistic or gradual route to the top are intent on fast tracking their progress and medalling in front of their own folk.

"The level of performance rises (because] there is so much energy behind it and you feel you just have to do it. I remember in 2002, I thought I just have to win. London will be like that and people are going to feel that. Even the people watching will feel a bigger part of it. It's not just the athletes. It's a motivating factor for the whole country to do things right when it comes to sport.

"The Olympics is something I'm very passionate about, just thinking of it in our country and how many people are going to be inspired by it or captivated by it. It will be the same for Scots with the Commonwealth Games. Scotland loves its sport and has a huge passion and they get behind their sports stars and the atmosphere at events up here is great. It's such a big opportunity, it's huge and the legacy of that could last for so long. People still talk fondly of Beijing and how well we performed there, the medallists we got but as a whole country I don't think we can underestimate how much a London Olympics will change people's perceptions of all sport in the country."

In Scotland last week to present prizes at the ClubSport Stirling Awards dinner, she claims there is a timely revival in track and field performances in Britain but feels people should be more broad-minded when it comes to embracing all sports. The downturn experienced in athletics in the wake of big name retirements is over and, while still shy of the standards set in the 80s and 90s, their are serious medal contenders again.

"But sport has changed. Look at the way cycling, swimming and the likes of triathlon have come on. It's no longer just rugby, football, athletics and we should encourage young people to take part in a range of sports and hopefully one day they will be inspired by one they are good at. If we limit them in terms of the sports or the facilities that they use then we won't get the participation levels needed to get the one or two stars breaking through."

It was a varied background that gave Holmes a strong foundation to build from. She represented the army at judo and volleyball as well as starring on the running track, while as a PT instructor she was able to turn her hand to most competitive sports. It is why she recognises the benefits. She refused to be pigeon-holed back then, she learned not to be boxed in during races and now, with so many opportunities out there, her outlook is just as wide-ranging.