“My dad was telling me lately that after I was 10, all I used to say was, ‘I wish to be Olympic champion like Jess Ennis, I wish to go to the Olympics.’ However rising up, I all the time felt prefer it was so distant,” she continues. “She [younger me] can be very shocked to know I used to be Olympic champion – as a result of coming by the English faculties and Nationwide Cross-Nation, I wasn’t profitable every little thing. I had silvers, I had bronzes. I made a few England groups, however I truly by no means ran for England on the observe till I used to be about 16. It is very important keep in mind if you’re younger, you don’t need to be profitable every little thing, you simply must hold in your observe and hold centered. I do imagine everyone’s time will come, whether or not that’s if you’re 17 or if you’re 29 or 34. Everyone’s time will come, I simply imagine that mine is now.”
Keely’s time has come thanks partly to her dedication to her wellbeing – she tells me she has been working with a sports activities psychiatrist since 2022. “Again then, it was extra for me off the observe than on,” she admits. “My feelings have been all over. I used to be a bit low. I didn’t have wonderful motivation. Private improvement was most likely an enormous issue, too, simply rising up… we had three championships that yr and it was mentally so draining. I wished assist getting out of that hunch. They’re simply good to additionally offload to, with every little thing occurring, whether or not that’s personally, on or off the observe. Generally you want somebody to speak to who’s acquired nothing to do along with your life and doesn’t know the folks in it.”
Chat like this from an athlete was extraordinary till the likes of Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka began brazenly speaking about how turning into a champion can convey big psychological pressure. Changing into an Olympic champion takes intense psychological work in addition to the bodily. “I all the time say to myself earlier than a race, ‘It’s like now or by no means.’ I’d labored on all of it yr, simply making an attempt to lock into that mentality of nothing else aside from gold. That has helped. I’ve good self-belief, however I felt prefer it could possibly be higher, and I felt like I may management that voice of doubt a bit extra. Everyone has a voice of doubt – that’s not irregular. The highest athletes on the planet will all the time have that little voice of their head, like everyone else. It’s simply your response to it that makes the distinction. I wished to nearly shut that up,” Keely says.
What does a gold medal mindset seem like? “We might discuss issues like, ‘What’s the distinction between a medallist and a gold medallist mindset?’ A medallist could also be pleased with making the rostrum, whereas a gold medallist can be actually pissed off with silver and bronze,” she replies. “A gold medallist wouldn’t be centered on what everyone else is doing, however a medallist might need some ideas about what their opponents are as much as, or who’s forward and who’s behind. Somebody who’s so assured of their gold medal mindset is barely centered on themselves. For me, that appears to trick my mind a bit bit into entering into that actually assured mindset.”
Gathering this self-discipline is much more spectacular when you think about Keely considers her run as much as the Paris Olympics as one of the crucial testing – and retrospectively, empowering – occasions in her life. “To be trustworthy, this complete yr has truly not been straightforward in any respect,” she admits. “I acquired injured in November final yr, which saved me out till the tip of January. My complete plan was out the window. I used to be so unfit in January, I used to be getting battered by the women in my [training] group. I’d be injured, then I’d be in poor health, then I’d begin to run once more, then I couldn’t run once more, I wasn’t prepared, then I’d get in poor health once more. It felt like a endless cycle. I used to be to date off after I wanted to be. However now that I look again, it was truly an enormous blessing in disguise, as a result of I used to be allowed to place collectively back-to-back coaching weeks. My endurance improved a lot. I went from not with the ability to sustain with the 1,500 metre ladies to operating proper alongside them – which I’ve by no means been capable of do earlier than. I acquired stronger within the gymnasium. I used to be capable of make all these positive factors, and that’s what the distinction has been when it comes to me operating quicker than I ever have earlier than.”