Looking Ahead to LA 2028

You're seventeen years old You're wanting to become an athlete. I sat there in Doc's office, my mum sat next to me and they were like, you've got MS. And I just remembered the room just spinning and I literally just burst into tears. And my poor mom, Arabic is her first language for my mom to be so worried and not know what was happening. That was really hard It's so hard Yeah, but yeah, not good At this point my sister is now fully in training. She's at the National underwy Championships and I'm learning how toalk And it just very much felt like yeah, life was over It doesn't have to feel that way Hi, I'm Lena Nelson and I'm in great company. It's going to be one T Nils So smash the British record Lena Nielson. Wow. So I grew up in East London, you know, we grew up in a council state. The borough that I grew up in was one of the Olympic borough. so we got to see twenty twelve rise from the ground Wow. And me and my sister were so fortunate that we get carried for Jessic Enis and I remember I will never ever forget the feeling of walking into an Olympics Dadiia for the first time It' shivers now, That's insane. I just looked at my twin sister and I thought, we have to try. I want to be at the Olympics. and that was when the dream start ded Was your dad around? No I never knew. I never questioned that lack of a male figure. Even now I'm kind of in the phace where I do struggle to listen to men and trust men. but I just think it's because I never needed it. Mum was everything and I think it would do her injustice if I think I need she raised me to be a strong woman. If you could achieve anything What would you want to achieve Guys, welcome back to Great Comany. We have Lena Nielsen on the show today. She's an incredible athlete An even better story. So get ready for this. Now before we start If you can click that subscribe button, it takes one second, it's completely free, and you join the amazing community of people already following us Thank you so much. I enjoy this wonderful episode of G Company with Lena Nielsen For anyone who doesn't know you are Can you explain who you are you've achieved So I would say I'm Lena Nilson. I'm an Olympian. that That would be my first thing. It's a relatively new thing and I am just a normal girl But you are an Olympian. I seemed to be Olympian as well. How I wouldd introduce myself in professional spaces Does that ever get old No, and I have my Olympic medal on display in my living room and I literally legit walk down every morning to make my coffee and I look at it and think, what is that doing here? How does that belong to me? Like it's weird. Yeah. it's very special. And when you think about the population of the UK, it's something that's like seventy million. And when we assemble teamGB for the Olympics, it's something like three hundred and sixty people across different sports. I think athletics was seventy compared to seventy million, it's a very, very small group of people to be part of. and that's something I don't take for granted. You're the best of the best of the best. Best of the best of the best. It's amazing how you don't take it for granted. I really struggle with this. I think a lot of people maybe struggle with this is that if I could I was actually messaging a friend of mine yesterday, Gururi, amazing guy and he U I've been just like in my own head about lots of different things recently, not major things but a little bit and He was messaging me, he's quite a good source of like encouragement. And sometimes I think we all need that kind of encouragement. And he said, if someone was, if you were to say to yourself ten years ago when I first met you, that you'd be doing this now. You'd be over the moon. You'd be so excited. you'd be like no freaking ways. And as we gain what is success or do different things, we kind of lose that. But you don't. You see your medal every morning and go, yeah That's a great way to be. Yeah. And I think it's because there's so many factors involved like You know, ten if we talk about ten years ago, there's no way I would have believed I'd be at the Olympics, letone come back with a medal. That was not written in my cards at all. And then also just to know that the career is so short lived. L sports people know they're going into this career and it's going to be something ten odd years. of your whole life, which is very minor time You just wake up every day grateful because there is something tomorrow that could take away. It could be an injury, for my case, it could be illness. and it's just something that you know is Yeah, very fragile. And I think that's why I don't take it for granted every single day. Wow, I didn't there's a ticking time time. Yeah, it's like ye, it's ticking time momom Very yeah, very, very scary, especially now that I'm into my late twenties, entering my thirties I'm very aware that this is the part of life where they start talking about retirement. And it's very much yeah, I feel it a lot now and it's something that I don't, I'm not going to do it anytime soon, but it's something that does loom over you. It's this, okay, right, you are going to retire very soon. What are you going to do next? And it's very yeah, that's also quite scary. And thirty is so young It isn't it? It's crazy, you But in sport it feels like it's not. Yeah, you're like the grandma of the team, the veteran they call you, the experienced one and it's yeah, it's very Yeah, it's a different time frrame. So we live in this different world and it's interesting, but yeah, for a lot of people now, especially with mothers in the sport, that retirement age is shifting to a much later stage of your thirties idea of time and we all kind of have that in life Yeah. that we're constantly worried that time, I have it. I need to succeed. I need to do this now. Here we go. But I've kind of got my whole life, I suppose to do it never thought about that, especially with athletic athletes, people competing in sort of sprinting you know on a track There is really this window. There is their. And why is that? is because what happens to your body, to your muscles to your brain during that time? Well, a lot of it iss to do a training age. So for me, I've got what they call a young training age so I didn't start guess an elite level of sport until was in mid twenties. So was quite a late bloom, if you will. Okay. But most people would be doing it in their teens And so that training is so you training over and over again, you're pushing your body to these limits. There's a time frrame to that. It's very dangerous. And so what happens when you reach kind of your thirties, you would have been training for about fifteen odd years really hard and your body just can't handle the injuries and the niggles and there's going to be a pestering little pain that just never goes away and that's kind of what leads a lot of people to retirement. There's also the kind of mental the emotional tool that it takes and some people just can't do it anymore. It's like that emotion just gets a bit much. and then also life takes over as well, I think. you see a lot of people having babies and want to maybe prioritize their families and so then that takes over. So there's so many different factors, but it tends to yeah, hit around your mid thirties Yeah. That is so young.ight. But then it's exciting to know how much more of life you've got and then those skills that you gain in sports that you're going to carry that for the rest of your life. But then When we talk about retirement, what does it make you feel? For me actually, I'm quite excited about when I say that. I'm not scared of it. So I know a lot of athletes would be thinking, what do I do next? And how do I rebrand myself? How do I change who I was? I was an athlete for twenty years. and all I'm known for is running in this rugby or football. and then they struggle with that identity crisis someomeone like me, I compete with a chronic condition. So in the back of my mind, I've always known One day this career could just go, sits up. and I've always tried to have other things to work on so that should something happen, I can just fall back on this. I'm made sure to go get a university degree. qualified as a yoga instructor. I'm kind of dipping my fingers into too many pies at the moment. But yeah, I've always wanted to make sure that I had something to fall back on. And so in that way it's almost like endless opportunity when I retire, so I'm not too scared about it. I think I will be sad because it is something that has taken over your whole life and it's something that you is for a lot of people, sport is their first love and it was my first love. And to let go of that, it would be quite sad but it's not so scary. I think you as a sports person. This can go for any other career, to be honest. if you're someone who is you know, doing a career for quite a long time and you know that at some point you might want to move forward from that It's okay to be sad about it and it's okay to kind of grieve that, but then there's so much more that life can offer. So I think that's how I phrase it and how I look at it. What people don't realize is that out of every single race out there The four hundred meters is probably the worst And the reason why it's the worst, okay, maybe not the longest, it's not the shortest. But running a sprint four hundred meters round a track's a full track It quarter of a mile. It is. Maybe one could argue eight hundred meters is worse. I actually would agree thatine are the worst race. But let's say eight hundred meters. fifteen hundred, eight hundred, let's say eight hundred and four hundred, probably the worst. Yeah It's just horrendous. because you are You are you're getting everything out of your tank. Yeah. It is out there. Plus you're adding in hurdles. Yeah. So you're having to jump over hurdles. I lack a good challenge, as you can tell. Why on earth you pick that event? It's so funny. you'll often hear in track and field. It's like there's so many different events. I think there's something like eighteen and that goes throws jumps and run. And often people go, how did you pick the one that you're doing? And you'll hear athletes go, I didn't pick the event. the event picked me. Okay. So for me it was I started actually cross country. I wanted to be a distance runner I had watched twenty twelve and I wanted to be an eight hundred meter runner And then quickly like that I have no distance bones in my body. And then went down to four hundred. I found it incredibly boring, to be honest, still do to this day, it's just one lap.' Yeah, it's hard and it' I find it boring. And then I thought, Oh let me we have a challenge. I'll put ten barriers in the way and I absolutely love every single hd of race. So for me it was my calling. It was very much this is Yeah, I'd love to do something where there's barriers involved Let's take it back to when you were younger. Okay? Because you have a twin sister. I do. What was the household like Where did you grow up So I grew up in East London, if you could probably tell from the accent, in a place called Leayonstone. I loved living there. It wasn' att the time when I was growing up, it wasn't a very good area to live in. It was you know, we grew up in a council state and it was very much dangerous and And actually the other day we went back and we saw some of the people that we grew up with and they're talking about you know, coming out of prison and so and so still in prison. and it's just crazy that we grew up there, but I actually I feel like it shaped the person I am. In what ways I So it's funny, I didn't realize we weren't affluent, if you will, until much later in life. So I grew up with so it' me, my twin sister and my single momum My momum is from Sudan, which is somewhere we used to go to a lot when we had our summer holidays And when we'd go to Sedan, we'd see people living in mudhuts, people, children barefoot, people literally having nothing And so when I would come back to this council state, I'd look at us and be like, oh my God, we've got rooms, we've got a roof, we've got walls, we've got staff, we've got toys, we've got so many things. and I always thought wow we're so rich. L to see something like the people living in Sudan and then to see us you know, living like that, I thought we're so rich. And not only when I then grew up did I realize, oh, right we weren't rich. And it's something that made me grateful for having that childhood because I'm always grateful for what I have because I know what it's like to clothes in your back. So that was something that really shaped. I think the person I am today I' quite a positive and optimistic person, which I think. And we've met a few times. and you are always positive and. Yeah It's annoying, isn't it? No It's not it's brilliant. But I think that's what shaped me to be this person because I just thought Wow, I have so much. And so I talk about my childhood, but I had a great childhood. I really do. I think I grew up with community with people around me. The thing about Arab familyil, So Sudan is an Arab speaking country Arab families, they're always together. There were always people around our house. We were always socializing. I grew up with all my cousins and it was just incredible. And I really did do think I'd had a good childhood. When did you realize that you weren't affluent? Probably when I was in my early twenties and I started to you know, be around other athletes And then a lot of athletes would come from families where they would push their children into sports clubs and things like that, whereas we didn't have the money to go to sports clubs. Andten think you often hear actually that athletics is a poor man sport because all you need is a field and a pair of trainers. Correct. whichich is what U sayain Bolt says, I think,' the poor man's sport. So you know going into sports, so if you wanted to be someone to go into tennis, like usually you need to come from a family of money But you know, I was in sport because athletics was just available and actually where I grew up We were very, very fortunate that the borough that I grew up in was one of the Olympic boroughers. so we got to see twenty twelve rise from the ground So yeah, that's another part of my childhood that really shapes me. you know, living in Layonstone, we were one of the fiveive Olympic boroughs. And there was an opportunity when the Olympics came around for sixteen to to eighteen year olds who live in the local boroughs to become young games makers, My GMs as they were known back then And me and my sister were so fortunate to become kit carriers at the twenty twelve Olympics, which was just an incredible experience. I remember so we we lived so close to the Olympic Stadum that we could walk. took about fifteen, twenty minutes, but we could walk to the Olympic Stadium. So weve put a little uniform on, and it was like a purple shirt with like little orange stripes. and we just walked down the high road in our uniform. And I remember members of the public just stopping us and going, thank you so much for your service. And I was sixteen and I had no idea like the magnitude of this event that was happening. So we'd walked to the Olympics stadium. we had our first shift as young gamesemakers And our first experience of kit carrying at the Olympic Games was the hundred meters prelims, So not the heats, the prelimbs. So the Olympics has this incredible movement where lesser populated countries can enter athletes so that they can experience the Olympics, which I just think is a great amazing movement from the Olympics. Yeah so we kick carried for the hundred metre prerellyimbs first ever shift and I remember I will never ever forget the feeling of walking into an Olympic stadium for the first time. We had very strict rules to pick up the box. We walked out first. There's a team of eight of us, obviously eight lanes We put down the box, don't look at the athlete, don't look around, don't like just put down the box in focus. We took our job very seriously, but at that moment when you walk out into the Olympics Stadum, you can't help but why what was the feeling? It's just eighty thousand people is so many it's the magnitude of people, and there's British flags, there's other countries flags Everyone has this look of joy and pride on their faces. We've got a homeome Olympic Games and that's something that Not a lot of us will experience it in our lifetimes, and I don't think the UK will experience it for a very, very long time. So I was very fortunate to be The London Olympic Games, just to see how many people showed up for the one hundred meer pre limps. It's like incredible. And yeah, and we just put down the box and the chair was very loud But what was an even better experience than that was we get carried for just Gises two hundred meters he hl on race. Now this was in the nighttime. So this was another shift. So what would happen is we'd do a kit carrying shift We then go back into a sort of little staffroom with all the other little teams And when it was our turn, they'd go, right kit carries for the pathlon two hundred up you get. And so we get up all eight of us My sister sneakily took box six because she knew that that was Jess Gonnais's lane. So it still to this day for it. I think I had box seven on box five. I was on the lane either inside or outside of her And so our job was to walk out first. So we The boxes they're empty. We'd walk out into the stadium first and it is nighttime. so you're not seeing the faces anymore. You just know that there are eighty thousand people there And as soon as the athletesalped behind us obviously J Ganis Hill was the golden Gl to the twentyelve Olympics The eruption of eighty thousand people. you would have thought there was an earthquake. How shivers That's insane. I willll never forget it the flashlights you would have thought it was daytime. But obviously back then wasn't with so much smartphones, but we were still kind of using cameras with flashes. the flashes that went off, it was so bright. And I remember all eight of us just looking around going Oh my goodness, what is happening? This is incredible. And I remember wanted to sneak a peek at Jessica and I wanted to see what she was like and the amount of focus on her face. Really? She just wasn't phazed by it. I thought it's like lightning and thunder in here. then these people are all here for you You know, and it was just to see the focus on her face, that was when I first realized I wanted what she had. I was like, I want what she has. Explain what you mean by the focus, what was it? It's like if, you know us with we were sixteen, of course, us with the role of go out there, don't look at the athletes, don't look around and we broke out of that. We had to look around. We had to figure out what's going on She was just looking at the track and it looked like she was going through her race plan and she was very much nothing could break that focus, that level of commitment and not succumbing to that kind of pressure, I think, like looking at her knowing, I mean, we all knew that the country was behind her. She was I think at the time, one of our only gold medal hopefuls in athletics and it was just She just didn't seem she didn't seem phazed by it. And I just thought, I want to know what that's like How do you get to a point where you're like that? And I remember when we boxes with everyone's kit inside O job was to take it under the tunnels of the stadium to the finish line our team leader was there ready to meet us and I just looked at my twin sister and I thought, we have to try, we have to try and have this happen for us. I want to be at the Olympics. L I want this to happen. And that was when the dream started. And honestly, that was my childhood. If the London twenty twelve Olympics didn't come to my home borough I don't think that dream would have ignited in me. So yeah, my childhood was fantastic. Can Was your dad around? No I never knew. reallyally? neverever knew. Yeahah. But again, this is what I mean when I said very positive. Our mom was our whole she was my whole thing. She was strong enough to raise two in like twinsis babies. I don't know how she did that she was twenty six. I just don't know how she did that. So for me, I never questioned that lack of a male figure. and I only when I got to prefrontal cortex then kicked in. so past twenty five. So even now I'm kind of in this phace where I do struggle to listen to men and trust men and I only realize I was a girl. Gad you're here. Well say J. Gad you're here because I did want to I felt like you weren you were ignoring me. I struggled. Well you struggled Bak this down for me because there's a lack of trust, a lack of understanding, a lack of It doesn't help that most coaches in athletics are male coaches. My coach right now is a male coach. So it doesn't help. so sometimes like the other day I was so tired from I've just likeed training again, I'm in week two So he was trying to give me these cues and I just stopp listening. I was like I don't to hear. He looked to me he was like, you okay? I was like, I don' wantt hear it. And that's where like the barrier is. And like I think if I was someone who maybe would lean on I guess a male figure to kind of help me through that tiness then I would J just be like, I'm so sorry, Coach, I'm really tired. but I get to the point where I just blank out that like I don't want to hear it like I'm going to do with this on my own. Is that a defense mechanism I guess maybe you could phrase it that way, but I just think it's because I never needed it. I grew up without a male figure, so I think and very much I'll lean on a female. Like if there's a problem, I'll probably like you know lean on the female character in my life who right now is my twin sister, who's my best friend. But it's yeah, it's something that I've really figured out later in life that could be a barrier. And it's something that I'll struggle with in my relationships as well Yeah. I want to know But this is what this podcast about this is what the podcast can I have a boyfriend right now.. He's like noton a. like yes, the first few years is very difficult. But why talkalk to me what happens in that relationship? Why would What happens at the beginning when you get into a relationship with someone? what manifests because of that? I think it's that whole avoidant attachment thing. It's very much like I don't mean to draw on your relationship, but I feel like you've spoken about this you and Sophie's she's more avoidant and your're more anxious attachment. hundredcent. So I'm more like Sophie, I'm very much light avoidant. L if I've got a problem, I don't want to hear from you. and it's very much I've noticed that I'm not very cuddly and very touchy feeling. like I don't really need that from my partner, but it's the other way around for him. So it's yeah, something that I've yeah, definitely noticed is somethingomet something I'd love to work on and something that I'd love to move past because it can be a baron and it was a baron in the beginning of our relationship. But I think it's something where I need to almost embrace that malefigure and know that they're going to be around. And yeah, it's something that I have to rephrase yeah, as I get to my late twenties. Yeah, my Sophie, my wife went through divorce. She the way that I look, I'm speaking for her. so I hope she doesn't mind. The way that I'm going to perceive it for her is that she How to protect herself. Yeah And she didn't rely on anyone else to protect herself. She closed up. Yeah. and that's what she has done. you know, I've seen it made her when I do something that annoys her or makes her feel like she doesn't trust me because I haven't been reliable. Not even big things, right? but small things. She immediately closes off. Why don't need you Yeah I don't need you. I can just andid you're the same. Im exactly the same. It's like why, why we like that? and that's what I'd love to explore. Our childhoods have a mad influence in our lives. Yeah, for sure. Have you ever spoken to your ad d never knew him. We did my sister actually was more wanting to find out who he was. So she went on a deep dive. So we're half Danish. that's that much we do know. He was Danish on mom Suddanese. and she found our half sister. so he was married before my mum. so found his half sister and asked her where he is and he had just died six months prior to trying to find him. It affected her quite a lot and it's something I'd love to I hope she doesn't mind me speaking about this, but it's something that I'd love to know why we're so different because when she told me she was in tears going he died and I was like, okay. because you' an avoidant That's like you telling me, Bob on the street Wow. His dad died. Like for me, that person is not in my life. I don't Is your sister an avoidant? I think she is yeah. I think ye Yeah yeah, exactly the same. Yeahah twin sisters. talkal same laugher the same so yeah, I assume she's avoidant. But yeah, but did he pass away I think he had a form of cancer and he was living in Indonesia at the time, but he was quite estrange from his other family So we know that he wasn't a very good a female family member, if that makes sense. But yeah, it's not something that I grieve about or I'm sad about or could have been would have like I just it sounds bad, but I just don't care enough. Like my mom was everything can I think it would do her an injustice if I think I need that she was She raised me to be a strong woman, she raised me to be Funny, I think, she's hilarious, and I think I take some of that from her. And I just don't think anything's missing. She's an incredible woman Tell me, what's your momum's name? Amanda. Hi, Amanda. She's an Egpt right now, living her best love. Is she really? She loves it there, yees. I mean, did she ever date again No, which is really interesting. Yeah. so she was a very strong woman and like we never had a male figure in the house I think she was just very focused on raising her two daughters which she did to the best of her ability. What does she teach you To fend for ourselves. She definitely taught me to not need anyone else, whichich is interesting because I've got to insist and I don'ten think I need her. But yeah, I often when I have a problem, I don't like too get help from it. And you know, what men are like in relationships like the woman likes to vent and the man likes to give a solution. Correct, yeah. I can solve it. I don't want to listen. me I don't want to hear your solution. I just want to vent. I don't get that. I can solve it. Sometimes we just want to just, you know rant and vent. And so for me, it's like, I don't even want your solution. I'd rather just deal with it myself. And that's another thing I'd love to just fix within myself. But yeah, she just raised us to be super independent Remember our very first washing machine lesson at eleven She's made us stand there in front of the washing machine and said this is how use it. And so like she's very much taught us to be self capable and yeah to to keep going and to go for our dreams and like She never once I mean for a mum who's Arab and African, you know it's the worst of the two combinations. And you know, you're very much in those cultures you need to be an accountant, a doctor, or a lawyer, in Jineer, that's your job role For us, we were like, we want to run around in circles, we want to go to the Olympics. She never once made us feel bad about it. She never once made us feel like we were lesser for wanting a job that's not quite conventional. She very much lik She wasn't so much a pushy parent. She was very much like, that's what you want to do, then yeah, go and do it. Like donon't let anyone stop you. but she never was that parent on the side of the track and I'm like, go. She made you competitive. because you have a competive nature in you, right? You got it.aybe that's because you're twin sis Maybe's because I'm a tw sister I thinks the sibling thing. Competitive with each other. Yeah, we're competitive with each other. and it's quite nice that we do different events. So she runs the four metometeters flat, Whereas I run the fourometeters hles but with then we do come together in the four by four relay, which is where our Olympic medal is from So when we're training together, we use each other. So I know my sister's slightly faster. I'm better at the endurance stuff so we push each other and if she comes near me in an endurance run, I'm like, no way, go away. This is my thing. L you kind' of beat me. Whereas when she does a speed session, I'm next to her, like she doesn't let me beat her. So we call it friendly fire. Yeah, so you're constantly get a healthy competitive healthy competitive. It's really good to have that in life. It really is. and I'm so you one hundred percent always to be better. Carbon copee to use. Wow. So it's like, right, if she's that fast, I should be that fast clelearly because we've got the same jeans. like it' it's An advantage that we both know we have and we use it to the best that we can. Just quickly, with your twin sister, are you guys telepathic? We gett ask us a lot No, Although we share memories, which is really weird. So I we were both there at the same time. Yeah. But well remember remember how we share memories. Let me land, let me land. I remember when mom Let me lember It would be like, oh, I remember this time when I went down this slide and she'd be like, No, that was me. You didn't go down this slide, you don't want to er much remember physically going down a slide. Like it would be something like that, like a mad memory where I think I was the one in it Whereas it's actually my sister yeah, it's very w Wow. So we share memories, but we don't we can't tell ifp. But the connection of twins is Yeah, differentiffere. Yeah, very different. I can't compare it to anything else. It's funny because it's again, one of those things that we didn't realise were special until very much later in life. everyones. Yeah, I was like everyone has this connection with their siblings. and it's like, oh actually when we see the way that we laugh, like even my boyfriend will be around us all the time and we'll just have these inside jokes and it's just not funny, but it's funny to us. But then like she'll also know and I'm like raging with anger So we're like, we have to be nice to Lina today. She's angry. So she knows me very like we know each other like like the back of our hand. like we're very it's a very special relationship. Yeah, it's it's Yeah, something that's very unique, I think You got diagnosed with MS when you were thirteen Yeah I had my first sympt to my thir F first sympt to set of thirteen, then diagnose at seventeen properly, right? Yeah Can you explain to me what MS is Yeah, so MS is an autoimmune condition. It's where your immune system mistakes your nervous system for not being yours. and attacks it and then that can lead to various different types of symptoms. and it's very strange. And's within MS there's three different types. So there's relapsing remitting MS, which is the type I have where you have relapses their s periods of time where something is not quite functioning properly, and then you'll go into remission where Things Hale to what extent we don't know, but then you can kind of live like a healthy human. And then there's primary progressive where that's your MS would start that way. So primary progressive is where your nervous system gets attacked and it just stays that way for the rest of your life. How it progresses, again, not we can't really give a certain prognosis. And then the secondary progressive where relaping remissing can become secondary if there's a certain symptom that just keeps progressing for this ye. we call it snowflake condition. because it's very different for everyone, including in identical twin sisters. so my sister I hope she doesn'tind me speaking about this, but she got diagnosed with MS a lot later than I did. We both have relapsing and remissing MS are MS And even with us we've got the same genes Same upbringing, so there's no nature versus nurture involved here. And we've got very different types of MS.'s It's interesting. for the sciists in me I study at Chemistry university, I find it so fascinating. Is it genetic We don't know.'s the thing about MS is very difficult. We don't know the cause Come on there's no cure. We're getting very close to a cure. and I like to share this a lot with. so I try to be as open as I can when it comes to MS, and I like to share as much. And the other day I shared a news article on my story this research is happening behind the scenes. I think It was a Sky newews piece that had maybe about twenty comments and I was like,'t not a lot of people know about this. so I wouldd share out my platform. so hopefully the people that do follow me that I follow me because we all have MS. can see that there's hope. There's a lot of research happening behind the scenes. but yeah, we don't know the cause. We don't know if it's caused by a certain Ge We know it's some sort of gene expression gone wrong, but we don't know how many different genes have expressed ress wrongly. So it's very much a big question mark over MS How many people in the UK have MS? So right now, it's about one hundred thirty thousand people in the UK that have MS. So it's very low It's very yes, known as a rare condition. Y. So for that reason There's not a lot of awareness around it. And so I think What happens is so the complexities of MS, the fact that it's a snowflake condition, the fact that there's not a lot of awareness around it people paint it in a certain way and it's because there's very limited information that is sent out publicly. And so it's something that is very there's a lot of misconceptions around MS. and it's one of the things I try to advocate for. I have a friend that I know who's now got MS and he's in his late thirties. Yeah. So you get diagnosed quite young. So you tend to think he was diagnosed young though. T teend to get diagnosed between twentyteen and forteen. Hot young. . He's pretty young. I was thinking young' like eight. No. thirties is young. So yeah, so you said he's thiries. He's thirty nine. thirty nine. So yeah, that's still considered quite young. ye. So it's known as a young person's condition. So a lot of people one of the misconceptions is that it's an old person's condition Where it's not most people get diagnosed between twenty and forty. So it's a young person's condition, if anything If you had a richusca of how severe it can get, how severe it can MS get It's yeah, it definitely varies from person to person. You can become paralyysed from MS, you can be in a wheelchair. whether you'd want to paint that severe, you know, some people would froze it in a different way. But yeah, it can affect so many different things. It can affect the way you walk, the way you speak, the way you swallow, the way your bladder is controlled And that varies from different person to person. Sometimes it canffect when you breathe, which is happening to my sister at the moment. So it's not fatal. Sometimes there are complications that can lead to fatalities, but it's not MS that is fatal. In my case, the most severe it's gotten is that I've become paralyyszed on the right side of my body So that did stop me from walking for a little bit, but that's the worst I' scot. So it's very veryery complex and very individualized You're seventeen years old You're wanting to become an athlete That was the year after the Olympics. Yes, the year after the Olympics. Life is like ready go. I mean when if I look back when I was seventeen. Yeah, it was like Probably one of my favorite years ever I was just young. I was dating. I was out, I't aboutout to become an adult. Aout to become an adult. All these things were going on. and then You get told you have MS. That's Proably a pretty scary moment. Yeah, it was definitely the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with. E now when I've had times where MS has affected my life, that never gets as hard as it was when you were seventeen. talkalk me through it because I imagine a lot of people listen to this potentially maybe in the same position as you. Talk me through what happened So like you said, when I was thirteen when I had my first relapse, which was weakness on the left arm At the time, I was a pediatric case No one could think is child case. No one can figure out why this child is presenting symptoms that look like a stroke. becausecause obviously it's left arm weakness. So it was brushed underneath the carpet and it's something that just recovered on its own and I forgot about it. When I was seventeen, it happened on the right side. So it was my right arm that went weak first And I just I remember thinking this has happened to be before. like clearly now when I look back at it, it was clearly trauma that I just buried deep into my brain and didn't So when it happened on the right side It was like one of those movie scenes where the flashbacks come back. wow and you're and I'm sat there going, oh my God, this has happened to me before And when I realized that my right arm was weak, I was actually in the gym with my very first coach, Frank Adams to say because he's just a sweet darling very close to him still to the state. I was doing bench press. It was so weird. I was doing bench press and I was pushing the bar and left my left arm was pushing, my right arm wasn't pushing and the weight started to slide off on that side And I just like, Wh why is am I right? I'm not working? I don't understand? And then then that's when all the memories came back and I sat there in the middle of the gym and went, oh my god, it's going to get so much worse. And Frank was like, what do you mean it's going to get worse? I said, this is going to get so much worse because this has happened to me before So I just went home, didn't tell my mom, which is very strange because I't I don't want to worry her. When we were thirteen, she was very worried. You could see it. Yeah. And you know because you were her life. Yeah. and I didn't want to worry her. You know, there's been so many times I was the problem child. So like I got hit by my motorbike when I was ten, worried my mum. thenen had that left arm weakness worried momum. I was like, I don't wantna worry her again. I'm not going tell it's going to go away in and it's like it did last time So Yeah, I didn't tell it. and then it just got worse and worse and I started to noticice that my leg was getting affected and got to point where I just couldn't hide it obviously D don't tell anyone , I't have up my m' not. I know. I was seventeen, Jamie. Yeah But I did eventually tell her because I couldn't hide it. So I think I was getting a glass from one of the top kitchen coubovers and I just couldn't hold onto it. It just dropped and shattered, and I just broke down and I went, M, I can't move my right hand. I can't move my right arm Of course she goes into panic mode. Our local hospital at the time was Wip Cross Hospital which last time we went didn't give us any answers. So she took us straight to UCLH. How she knew this hospital had a neurology apartment? I'll never know. I didn't know she could Google things. She's like the first language is Arabic. I didn't know she could do this. So she was like I'm taking you to UCLH, which I was very confused about. So we've got on the tube, I'm now at this point limping because I could barely walk it progressionally starts it starts to go. And it was very quick. So like I noticed that my right arm wasn't working on the Monday and then by Thursday it was very much I'm really struggling to walk. And what is going through your mind I didn't, you know, at seventeen, you don't think a lot of anything. No you're naive, which is. Yeahes. so I didn't I was like, it's fine. I'll be okay, like I went away last time. It was very much like Everything's going to work out in the end Early then when I got to hospital in this country, it's very notorious that emergency waiting times are very long. So we got to the emergency room. I know that there's a lot of people waing. My I said the symptoms to the doctor and I got rushed in immediately, which I then was like alarm bezz ringing. I went in front of all these people. Why are they taking me in I was in an MRI machine within an hour of walking into that. AE department. So then that's when the ball dropped and I was like, rightight,n this isn't good. And when you're in an MRI machine, I was in there for an hour because at first they put me in there without contrast. So that's when you just get scanned.. And then when they put in contrast It so that they could highlight things that where there's inflamation or there's a tumor. They were very sure it was a tumor just because of the way that it progressed really quicklyow. So I'm hearing these things, I'm hearing tune, I'm thinking like So and then they you know, put me into an MRI machine and that's when I'm picking. It's very, obviously confineds claustphobia. Yeah. And I literally just burst into tears and I was like, my life is just has changed from this moment on. I was then hospitalised for three days to be kept under observation. And in that time, It's a university hospital, University College, London there was univert like junior doctors coming in testing my reflexes and asking me questions and it was just ongoing. It was like very much I was like a case study And I'd hear the words MS being thrown around or this other condition being thrown around. and I just thought, no that's not me. I learnnt about MS in Alevel biology. I was like, No that's not whatever. likeike these students. what did they know? they know. They're learning. But then I got sent home and it took about six weeks to really recover. At this point my sister's now fully training. She's at the national under twentyw twenty Championships and I'm learning how to walk. So again, I found that very difficult training side by side And I was learning how to like walk again and jog again and then eventually And you're watching visually with someone who looks like you and is your like someone there doing what you want to be doing, but you can't because something out of your control is compleomtely. That is the worst. when something is taken away out of your control. That was ye, that was that made that whole experience a lot harder because we had justess in the Olympics and that was our dream And then so it was a bit of sweet. It's like, I want my sister to do well, but also why am I not doing well? So it was never like o I want my sister to also feel this. It wasn't that. it was like, o, she's flying, but I also want to be flying. So yeah, it was very difficult. and then I didn't get diagnosed until about two months later. when I then got called into the consultant's office and they had you know, done the tests and figured out through the results and they were like, you've got I sat there in D doct's office, my momum sat next to me and they were like, you've got MS. And I just remember the room just spinning And I couldn't look. It's very interesting when something happens to you that drastic You want to blame someone? Yeah, of course. And I looked at the consultant and I just all these swes in my head going, A you've done this to me? L you just want to blame someone and And I just could look at him and it didn't help that he had these Tazing blue eyes I'll never forget And like doctors are very like sure and certain and he's looking at you going, you've got MS. and Im like, No, no, I don't. That's not me. You've got it wrong. And I just remember looking at the box of tissues on his desk and eventually those box of tissues being handed to me because I didn't realize I was like crying. And my poor mom, Arabic as her first language, she didn't know what he was saying. So she's all asking me in Arabic, Lena was going on and I was like I can't I don't know. I can kind of like literally burst into tears and it was just honestly the worst day and like for my mom to Be so worried and not know what was happening. That was really hard That is so hard. It's okay now Maybe. It's all right. Yeah, but yeah, not good Yeah, we'll get you a box of tissue as well. Yeah hold on one second. But when I think about that memory, it's not me, it's like making My mum worriedool. That's the hard bit And knew you'd do this to me Jam That's okay. Listen, I am nationalist Man yeah Yeah, it's tough. It's really tough And that moment is obviously still within you. It never leaves you like it's When you get a diagnosis, a lot of people say it's very similar to grief So you you go through the denial. So I was very much like in denial for like, I'd say rob uil was about or seventeen when I got diagnosed, a month before my eighteenth birthday And I don't think I fully accepted that diagnosis until I was about twenty one So it took two like three or four years to really go, okay, I think I can get on board with this. I know this is what I have but it's still very much like Maybe it can turn around. Maybe one day they'll realize that MS can be turned into many different other things. Maybe it's an umbrella term. and actually I've got this thing, which is very similar to it. So there's very much still denial, and there's only actually When I started speaking about MS that, I really started accepting it. And that's the power, I think, of speaking.' like Oh, I can actually I'm not scared of this anymore. I can actually speak about it and And then I just took it you know, like grasp it by the horns and I really started to think of myself as someone who lives with MS. actuallyctually, let me rephrase that. MS lives with me. So there's a power in speaking. And so when I now advocate about MS, I say when you are ready because it does take a while for you to come to terms with that diagnosis. And I always say when you are ready Tell someone about it. J speak about it. And If you cry, talk through the crying like I'm doing now And just it can be someone that you're not even that close to. Just speak to someone about it or like mayaybe like start an anonymous blog and speak about it or do something because you need to get it out of you. and that really helps you come to terms with it. And I think there's power in sharing. canan I ask though, Because if I was diagnosed with something and this is probably my naivety coming in, right. But if I was diagnosed with something, I think I would it. But what you're saying is that it feels like there's almost a denial Yeah Maybe I don't want to put words embarrassment or shyness or something. What is that fear? It's interesting actually, it's something that's very unique to MS I think because what we know of MS is that it's disability. It means that you're weaker than you come across as. And what we know about MS is very superficial. So the first thing I learned about MS was I remember it so clearly, my A level biology book, textbook There was a small corner of the textbook of an old white man in a wheelchair. old white man mixed race young women. I was like, this isn't Two and two are making clim. I was like, I' not I don't relate to that. So for me, it was very much like, I'm seeing an old white man in a wheelchair there's definitely denial. And so I think with what we know about MS and it's definitely changing now with the power of social media. I follow so many Social media page is talking about MS. We're starting to see more and more people who could look like us. We're seeing a lot more young women. So MS is You're more likely to be diagnosed if you're women. So seventy percent of the people in the UK who have MS are women Which is a big number. It's a big number. Compared to men. So we're starting to see more and more what MS could look like. We're now starting to see that it doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to end up in a wheelchair. whereereas for me, it was very much like you're going to end up in a wheelchair. Sos I think there's power in speaking about it and raising awareness And I think that Everyone's going to react differently to a diagnosis, but I see more and more so with MSA it's very much like, I'm scared to tell my colleagues because they're going to think that I'm not able to do this job I'm scared to tell my friends because they're going to think that they can't invite me to a night out because I might not handle it. So it's very much this misconception that MS means to have to stop your life. And I think that's what stops people from sharing. And I think if you can tell people what your exact MS looks like to you because it's very individualized And this is why I talk about me and my twin sister quite a lot because it's like we are identical twins and ours is different. If you can share what your story is like, that will stop people from just putting you into the box that they think MS is A lot of the information that's out there is very outdated. There's so much research happening behind the scenes That doesn't get to the doctors until about five to ten years later. So what they might tell you is very different to what you might see on the internet of this social media page of this guy who's living in Cornwall, who's you know, lifting every single day or maybe, you know, doing something else. And I think that's the power of like something like MSO so individualize if we can see as many different stories as we can, that's what can help. someone who might get diagnosed tomorrow, might go, oh, actually okay, I'll be okay. And what was great about the Olympics was We get such a platform with the Olympics. And I remember when we were like doing our kit collection There was this part where we had to Just say a little bit about ourselves so that if like let's say, for example, there there's an Olympic app. So Paris twenty twenty twenty four had an Olympic app and you're raacing, they can click on your name and there's a little profile about you Mine said literally she has MS. That was my profile. That wass great. And I didn't know how to change it. So as I was competing at the Olympics, it was very much if you click on my name, it says she has MS. whichich I was okay about. But what made it great and I got this DM and I'll never ever forget this DM. it was this guy and he had Dimm me and said My girlfriend just got diagnosed about two months ago. and out of the blue, the Olympics was on And they hadard Leena Nilson GVi lives with MS, by the way And apparently it had just changed the whole way she looked at her diagnosis. And for me, I was like, if I just touch one person with my story, just one Hopefully a young person who might not know how to do with this diagnosis, then I'll be happy with just sharing my story. And that's why I remember that DM because I'm like, that's what I'm doing it for is so that someone can come to terms with their diagnosis. because when I got diagnosed, It was absolutely dire. I had no one to turn to no one to look for. and it just very much felt like Yeah life was over and it doesn't have to feel that way. Len and, you do that. It's so impressive because You're an Olympian. Yes. You're the best of the best of the best, right? And you're living with MS and you can still get out there and you can still meddle and you can still achieve what you want to achieve. And that's why I don't it for granted at all. It's something. That's why I walked downstairs and like ten years ago, they told me I wouldn't be walking and I've got an Olympic medal on my coffee table. What's going on? So it's you know what it just wraps up that whole experience in a bow for me. And what it does is that you're forging a path for yourself when there wasn't one That's the sort of thing which you're going through or like this isn't I don't know where my future is going to go and you're like No, I'm going get through this, and it's going be okay. And I think that's the way my momum raised me. So credit to her. credit to Amanda. Amanda. What I find so beautiful about thing with Amanda and I don't want to bring you back there, but which I am doing is mut. Yeah, is but you You feel like you're not sad for yourself, you're sad for your momum. Yeah. I think Kusha gave us everything. you know, She came to this country. She actually was living in Denmark with our father and I guess What I love about my mother is she never trauma dumped on us So we were never sure why I ended with her and her husband U you've never asked No I think now more so, but I don't want to bring up old trauma for hers. She's honestly living her best life I need to credit to her. What I love about my mum is that, yes, she never trauma dumped on us. never told us why it went wrong with her and her husband, but she gave us everything. So for me, it was like, she gave us everything I don't want her to think that Now I have nothing. Like I wanting her to feel like Yeah, but she she did the best she could because I know it's hard, you know, like Raising a baby is hard. Raising two babies is hard. raaising two babies on your own is even harder. So for me, I know that she gave us everything. So I guess in a way, I just didn't want to take away from what she gave us. And it broke my heart because when I eventually could tell her translate it into Arabic somehow She thought it was her fault And I just was like, this is what I didn't want. And I was like, no, M. And even now she calls it a problem. She's like in Arabic, it translates to your problem. She goes, and musculular Hagig is your problem. And I'm like, M, it's not problem. I have MS. Do you know what it is? And so I'm not educating her, which is so funny because back then it was so funny. I couldn't even look at the letters of the supermarket MNS meaning triggered me, I was I can't look Ion't go in there. And now it's like me speaking about it. It's just like, wow, look how life has gone. and it does take a while, but I think That was just sharing it and talking about it and being open about it. And it's scary, but once you get through it, it's very much It's something that I'm proud to share and proud to raise awareness for and be an advocate for. And the Olympics definitely gave me a platform and it's not something that I take for granted. and so a lot of people who do the Olympics might just the Olympics and then go back to normal life whereas I was like, no, we need to build on this. This is a great platform and I'm definitely going to hopefully go to the next Olympics. And so this sp is in between I'm very much like let's use this platform And let's raise awareness about Iess. let's just scream it from the rooftops if we can, get that awareness, get that funding for the research. and hopefully get closer to a cure. It's amazing Honestly L, it's amazing because It's it's hugely impressive And I know it's funny how it sort of shows the closeness of your family, the fact that you're Mum thought it was her fault. and then you don't want to make your mum feel it's her fault.. And so you're just trying to protect each other. And it makes me really realize that We when you're in those moments of real darkness and you feel like the clouds are closing in and there's no escape from it There always is. You've just got to find your way through it. Yeah. And I always say that. And like you thought in that moment, this is your life changed for it. I'm sure it did change in many ways, but you probably thought you would never compete, you would never meddle. You never do the things that you have done. Many people listening to Sound watching you on TV, doing competing will just go if she can do it, I can do it. And That's the thing that I But in every way, not just with MS with so many other things. Yeah, but with any chronic condition, it doesn't even have to be sport it's like I know for a lot of people, you know, starting that business can be hard. And one of the things actually, it was the same teacher who entered our team for the twenty twelve Olympics. So she ended upP class that was our team who k carried. she would always say you never know unless you give her a go. one hundred percent. I sh had a lot NewZeand accent, I'm not going to butch it, but it sounded way better in her accent. And it's something I've carried with me through life. And actually one of the first things was like, right I'm going to learn to walk again and jog again and sprint again. And then I was like, you know what? let's just try. let's just try and push through this. andll just I'll never know unless I give it go. And it wasn't like I sat in the hospital bed thinking I'm going to Olympics. It was never that. It was very much like I'm going to get back to Strackfield. I'm going go to the national twenty Championships and then after the twenty Championships I'm going to go to the European twenty Championship then we got gold in the four by four. I was like, o, now I'm going to go to the senior European. So it was very much like a snowball effect. and that's what life is like. It's not very It's not like you start from zero and then go straight to one hundred. No it takes time. Yeah, the journey iss quite mly Cyrus. The journey is the part that people remember anywways. But it is, it's true. It is and it's that journey. Like how are you going start that journey? What is it what does that mean for you Find their stepping stones And just do it anyway because you just never know. You never know what's going to happen if you start this business, it might fail, it might thrive And even if it does fail, even you don't make it, you're still one step closer to something than you were before. And there's something you learn from that What is does it teach you sp? How do you think you've grown up quicker because of it Definitely. It's I remember when I was at university and I was I was I'd say I was about European class. I was competing at sort of European level type competitions. so I wasn't exactly world class, but I was competing in these kind of smaller stadiums and I did have a British vest on at a junior level so when I was nineteen. And I remember being at university and we were doing our final last year was at Queen Mary University of London. Shut out up Queen Mary. But we were doing our exams And I looked around and everyone was so nervous. and I thought, whyy are you guys ner? What's going on? It's just an exam. But I remembered that I had competed in these massive light sort of occasions. That something like an exam didn't worry me. Wow. So it's yeah, I definitely realized, I remember that being a pin drop moment of, oh, okay This is something that I can handle, like a final exam. But even sort of the things that you gain from sport like I stood in an Olympics dayadium with eighty thousand people watching me. So since now something like public speaking doesn't scare me, whereas it used to scare me in the past, or you do media interviews where you know Millions of people back at home are going to be watching this on TV. So things like that, it's like you can gain So much confidence from those experiences in sport What makes you nervous? This Get out of. get object. What makes me nervous? What actually makes you nervous? Good question, spiders. ood. So you'll never find me nervousle. I'm a scared of spite as well. That's more of a fear. that doesn't make me nervous. yeah, what makes me nervous? Maybe nothing makes you nervous Competing still makes me nervous. So like when I stood on the start line, but it's good nerves. I remember nerves used to take over and I would almost bottle it and think I don't want to a race But now it's that good anticipation. And I almost crave the feeling of ners, I know if I'm not nervous for a race, it's not going to go well I need those nerves. How do you control those nerves though? Beuse When I was a kid, I used to compete a lot. Y Don't if you know this? My hundred metre time ten eight. Do you know what I'd love to know Jamie actually? Were you nervous when you started the ultrra marathon? Uh the weirdly the sort of good thing about me with my nerves is that U I only get nervous at the point I of about to do it. Yeah. So I don't really think about it too much and And then suddenly when'm there, I'm like, okay, why, this is. So that's why I kind of do lots of things. I'll set up this, do this, whatever because I don't think about it. At the moment I get nervous. As soon as I started the ultra marathon, I was a little bit nervous I got nervous. Day two I was nervous because I knew what day one was like Yeah. And then that was like, oh my God, I can't believe I have to do this another four times. That was really hectic. But I'm really bad with nerves. Okay. Like it's actually my crypto. And a lot of people wouldn't recognize this or know this, but I get serious nerves. Right Nerves in I mean, sometimes when going on stage, I can get nervous. I can be nervous about getting names wrong or people wrong. I get really nervous about that because I have a dyslexia around that. So I get really nervous about that. And I haven't been able to handle or calm my nerves that much. I just would push through it. Okay. So how for someone listening right now who is really nervous, how do you control your nerves? So there's a lot of things you can do contontrol your nerves. One of them is something you can do physically. so we hear a lot about breathing. So let's try it together. Okay. so let's say a s on the start line Olymp the games.. What tends to happen on your nerves is obviously your breath quickens. So there's something that you can do where you really just slow down the breath. So it's really just as simple as taking a deep breath in through the nose and slowing it down and then breathing out. So this is what you're doing on the start line. Yeah. You'll see a lot people doing it. You'll see a lot of people know puffing their chests and then slowly just releasing the air through their mouths You'll see that a lot of like that's like Yeah, unanimous with sports peopleople breathing out of the nose. But then there's also out of the math, but there's also taking control of what you can control. So for me, if I'm nervous for a race, I know that there's a certain number of steps I need to take to get to the first hurdle. So for me, that's twenty to two steps So in my head, I'm like, right hand I' gonna to get twenty two steps I'm looking at my starting blocks and I think big first three steps And I literally repeat to myself, right When the gun goes, you take big three big steps. and you get to that first hurdle And then you know your race plan like the back of your hand. And once you're over that first hurdle, it's very much like right now Ive just got to get to the second one, the third one all the way until you get to ten, and then it' Then the race is over and this' finished. you control the control control the control. If you don't think about the end game, you think about what's in front of you. Yeah, you can't think about the outcome. And that goes for like a lot of different things. So if you're someone who's speaking on a stage or doing public speaking, you've prepared for that. There's no wayere you've gone onto a stage and just just improvising the speech. You've done something where you think, this is how the speech is going go And so you just think about that. You think I prepared for this. Why am I going to start off the speech with And then if you take that deep breath and have that in the back of your mind, that's how you're going to start that speech Eventually it will just flow And you will just you will know what to do. So if you're prepared enough, then you shouldn't really have nerves I would argue that you want to have a bit of nerves. Yeah, because nerves, I think we paint nerves to be very bad Yes. Oh, I feel really like it makes me feel like I want to throw off I want to be sick, this and the other But actually if you rephrase what nerves are, And it really is, I call it bottled up adrenaline because the moment that gun goes, I don't feel that nervous energy anymore. It's very much like the most explosive stuff I've ever done. can't replicate that in training. You need that kind of like race adrenaline. And then no one ever does their PB in training. You do it at the big stage at the end of the year Why is that? It's just the adrenaline. it's also There's so many factors, but is that adrenaline is putting the Bitish vest on, you know, having that union jack on your chest One of our team captains for the he was our team captain for the twenty twenty two World Championships. He his team speech. So anyone that's team captain does a team speech In front of everyone. In front of the whole team. we were at the world Championships and. team speech was pressure is a privilege. Yeah. And I say that a lot. Yeah And it still resonates with me today. I've been amongst a lot of team speeches, but that one really stuck with me because I thought, yeah, no one ever really performs better than when they've got that British vest on when they know that they're representing the country, they know they've got peopleople that they don't know is rooting for them and you know pushing them. Wow. So eighty thousand people in a stadium. and you're about to go and people are chanting your name. Yeah. and you've got the vest on. Andre you're on the grround. Yes. It' a thrill unlike any other. And one of my sister, twin sister was a team captain for the World Indoor Championships. And her team speech was when you go out there, our Wld Championships was in Glasgow so it's a home Championships And her team speech was, when you go out into the stadium, take a look at the people's faces. L really look at the crowd And we all talk on board. and I remember walking out into the stadium and looking at people's faces and no one there is angry that you're there. No one there is sad or you know worried for you. Everyone has this joy in their faces And everyone's people are you know holding British flags, and then people if they recognize you'll be like, goo on Lena, go on so and so go on and so. And it's like knowing that people are there to support you, that really does lift you. And so you're sat there or stood there in the start line thinking, everyveryone here just wants me to do well. And that's a powerful thing And it's just incredible. and it's a thrill Not a lot of people get to experience that that's a privilege. So pressure was a privilege. When did you get your Olympic rings tattoo? Did you notice? Yeah. My tattoo artist who did this tattoo, she messaged me after we got the medal and went, if you want your brains done, I'll hfily do them for you. So it was literally like I got back on the Eurar recovered from very bad hangovers. And then literally saw it like two days later. and she did it free of charge blesster. She was like, No, no you deserve this. So that was really cool Yeah, she did it for me. So open rings Are you excited for LA I'm so excited because we're the first event. always athletics is the last one, so we never get to experience the other sports, but we'll be done before the Olympics is over. So I'm gonna to go watch the squash because it's in the Universal stududios. Let's go. Squash at the Olympics firstly, first time. We're gonna medal, right? Yeahes, we wan to upgrade from our bronze. It' gonna be you know that America is going to be like team USA, it's going to be like massive C can't make for the opening cereony It's just gonna to be It's gonna be insane. Closing ceremony will be amazing. It's just I think it's going to be one of the best Olympics of our farar twenty twelve because that's always going be the best one. It's gonna be just just a big party. It's going to be the greatest show on Eth L, I can talk to you all day. Yeah. Honestly, this has been a real like ly honored to chat. know, it's been honour for me. And I really. I appreciate everything and I'm yeah You're amazing. You're incredible such a inspiration for so many young men and women out there I appreciate that day. Thank you so much. Wait you to win more medals. Thank you Listen, we'd like to end the conversation with eight questions. Are you ready? There we go. What's a saying or phrase that makes you smile or cheers you up If it's not a fuck yes, it's a no Because that's how I live my life. If I wantan to buy something, I'm like, is it a fuck yes then if it's not a fuck yes it's a no. So maybe I don't need the handbag bestest compliment anyone's ever given you. that I look expensive It was from this gay guy that I used to work with and I showed him a picture of this party I hadd gunted like the night before and Im like, Look look what I was wearing. he goes, Oh my go, you look expensive. And I love that compliment. It's a great compliment. G compl a great comp What were you wearing? A red dress. It was like a gala of some sort. And I did look like a Disney princess and he goes, you look expensive, and I think that's a great compliment What scares you most about yourself that I don't trust men very easily. Which is understandable. Yes I'd like to change it When was last time he cri Today day twenty minutes ago. Thanks for that, Jamie, but before that was probably Tokyo championships It didn't do very well, but I really had have to talk about that today What's something you can't let go of? Oh, that's a good question. likeike physical Any. It could be a TV show, it could be a food, it could be a memory, it could be anything. I can't stop watching friends Ah yeah. It's always in the background. It's the greatest. I can't let it go. It's the greatest. Apparently, anxious people really love friends. I've heard this. Makes sense. Yes, 'cause it's like I can recite the lines I don't even have to look at the. It's a comfort blank. It's comfort ye, it's a comfort thing. My wife loves it as well. Oh, greatreat. we should hang out. What's your guilty pleasure Oh, pie rings Nice shout. Poty rings are so good. Yeah, they are actually. That's good. They're a bit too good. They're really good poty rings.. They're not good for you, but they're so good What do you like most about yourself? That I'm reliable, it's one of my core values and it's something that I try to explore a bit more. So like my sister will often predict what I'm going to say next, which some people might find annoying but I like that I'm that reliable that you know, that's I'm going to do. I have the same pizza order, the same sandwich selection that I get on my meal do I'm the same and I like that you know that that's what I'm going to be like. so yeah, it's something I like about myself that I'm reliable Bonus one if you could achieve anything What what would you want to achieve I would love to get a gold medal Any gold medal, whether it be European, Commonwealth World or Olympic would be fantastic, but I need a gold medal before I retire. And it's something I know I can do Stay tuned Lena, we' one hundred percent we're going to get. I can't wait Lena, Thankk you so much, Cing, you've been brilliant every single way. You're the best. Thank you so much Is that amaz? Yeah