Emily Campbell’s rapidly-expanding medal collection bears testament to the realisation of the “crazy and bonkers” dream she once shared only with her family and a few market traders in her home town of Bulwell, who fuelled her Olympic ambitions with a regular supply of free fruit and veg.
Handsomely repaid for their faith when Campbell returned from Tokyo with an historic silver medal and copious bottles of bubbly, the 29-year-old’s staunchest supporters are now accustomed to news of her trailblazing success in weightlifting competitions across the globe.
Campbell was the first British woman to win an Olympic medal in the sport, an achievement that almost single-handedly shifted its perception, leading to packed stands and back-page headlines when she went on to win Commonwealth Games gold in a raucous National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham last year.
“I always believed that I could do amazing things in the sport, even though people kept telling me that it wasn’t possible,” Campbell, whose hopes of adding another World Championship medal to her collection in Saudi Arabia last week were scuppered by a back injury, told the PA news agency.
“The Olympic medal was me proving that I wasn’t crazy and bonkers, that I could back up the things I’d been saying, that I believed in myself and my team, and it hadn’t been just some sort of pipe dream that we’d been throwing in the air.
“The Olympics was about saying to the world, ‘This is me and this is what I do’. The Commonwealths were about cementing it, proving it wasn’t a fluke that I’d got an Olympic medal, that I won it because I went out there and was good enough to win it.”
Competing in the +87kg super-heavyweight category, Campbell has never sought to disguise the significance of her success in the context of ongoing body image issues among young girls, stressing its importance even before she had her silver medal wrapped around her neck in Tokyo.
She admits she is still moved close to tears by frequent reminders from young girls and their mothers of the impact she has had on shifting those perceptions, and highlighting the opportunities for those who wish to follow less conventional paths to fitness and potential sporting glory.
“My message has always been about changing that narrative that says as women it’s all about our appearance, and that sport and lifting can empower you and help you make decisions in life that are more important than how we look and what we wear and how our hair is and what weight we are,” added Campbell.
“I appreciate that I can do some good in terms of using my position to inspire people to do whatever makes them happy. I am a private person and I sometimes find the whole celebrity thing a little overwhelming, but I know it is a privilege to be in the position I am in, and I feel like I am helping to make a change.”
Campbell won a silver medal at last year’s World Championships in Colombia and, despite having made a return from planned knee surgery in January, a minor back injury prompted her decision to withdraw from Riyadh and focus on what she calls the “bigger picture” of Paris 2024.
An upgrade to gold will almost certainly prove a lift too far for Campbell, given the dominance in the category of China’s remarkable Li Wenwen, a softly-spoken 23-year-old who routinely totals over 30kg more than her super-heavyweight rivals and is acknowledged, even by the likes of the defiant Campbell, as a class apart.
“She (Li) has a very good aura and energy about her and we are all in awe of her because of what she has managed to achieve at her age,” admitted Campbell. “But it has always been about me and not everybody else.
“I’ve always had a tick-list of things I wanted to do in the sport and my long-term plan was always to get a medal in Paris. I’d only been in the sport for five years when I went to Tokyo, so it did seem unrealistic to plan to win a medal at the first attempt.
“Obviously a few things have changed. I’m accustomed to bringing home some bling now, and I’ve got a bit of a target on my back because the other girls want to beat me.
“But when I come home I still pop down to the market to keep them updated because they were there when I really needed help and support and people to believe in me.
“I still take my boots to the same guy to get mended, and they still look after me with the fruit and veg. (In May) I cut the ribbon to open the new bus station, where I used to get my buses to school or athletics practice. I’m just happy that I’ve helped bring something positive to the place I’m from.”
Daley and Glover confirmed as Team GB flagbearers at Paris Olympics
Tom Daley and Helen Glover have been confirmed as Team GB's flagbearers for Friday's opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics.
Daley is set to become the first British diver to compete in five Games, having come out of retirement to compete in Tokyo three years ago.
The four-time Olympic medallist is the defending champion in the men’s 10-metre synchronised diving event and will defend his title alongside team-mate Noah Williams.
Glover won the coxless pairs gold in both London and Rio and has come out of retirement at 38 to compete in her fourth Olympic Games.
“My dad would not have ever believed I would be a flag bearer one day,” Daley said.
“He always considered flag bearers to be Olympic icons and legends. I think he would be so incredibly proud of me being a flag bearer of Team GB.”
An Olympian at the age of 14 in Beijing, Daley won gold alongside Matty Lee in Tokyo to add to three bronze medals he has achieved in individual and synchronised 10-metre events.
“This Olympics is something I would consider to be a bonus Olympics," said Daley.
"This Olympics has been about enjoying it, embracing every moment and taking everything in as much as I can. To be flagbearer too is just the icing on the cake."
Glover will compete in Paris as part of the women’s four.
She became the first mother to row for Great Britain at the Olympics when she finished fourth alongside Polly Swann in the women's pairs in Tokyo four years ago.
“I just love the Olympics and have always loved what it stood for. But I still pinch myself that I am an Olympian, let alone doing something that I just saw as going down in history.
“To be flag bearer for a nation, it’s an honour. You can work hard to become an Olympian but this is bestowed upon me by somebody else who has seen that hard work. That just means so much.”
Muir lauds 'inspirational' Murray ahead of Olympics swansong
Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir described fellow Team GB member Andy Murray as "inspirational" ahead of the Paris Games.
Muir, who came second in the 1,500m in Tokyo three years ago, will again compete this year in the hopes of sealing a first gold medal in Paris.
Three-time grand slam winner Murray has confirmed he will retire from tennis after the Games, having previously won gold on two occasions.
The Scot's first Games appearance was in Beijing in 2008, losing in straight sets to Lu Yen-hsun in the first round.
Four years later, Murray triumphed on home soil by beating Roger Federer at London 2012, beating the Swiss in straight sets in the final.
The Briton became the first male tennis player to win two Olympic singles titles when he beat Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro at Rio 2016.
Murray withdrew from the singles event at the most recent grand slam at Wimbledon, competing in the doubles alongside brother Jamie but going out in the first round.
Dan Evans will partner Murray in the doubles in Paris, with Muir praising the Scot's influence both on and off the court across his 19-year professional career.
"I think it's just he's been at the top for so long, and it's just been so nice to see him progress through everything," Muir told Stats Perform.
"He's had so many hard times and he's come back and he's fought so hard and he's been so patient and such a big sportsmanship person at the same time.
"I think he's just hugely inspirational, not just in the sport of tennis but through Scottish sports and also lots of other sports on the team as well.
"Just to see someone fight for so long and do so well, it's been so nice to see.
"So it'll be such a shame that we won't see more of him to come, but it's just so nice to be able to finish it with the Olympics - he's hugely inspirational person both on and off the court."
Fellow 1,500m hopeful Jake Wightman, who finished 10th at the Tokyo games, echoed Muir's words on Murray's glittering career.
"I think probably him winning Wimbledon for the first time is like a iconic moment within my sporting history, just because I'd watched Wimbledon most years and never seen a Brit perform anywhere near that level," Wightman told Stats Perform.
"You'd obviously had Tim Henman going to a certain point, but it had been an era of just watching [Rafael] Nadal and Federer for a long time battling it out.
"So to see somebody in Britain, a British athlete, being able to go and do that was, I think, something that we may not see for a long time."
Muir hoping Paris gold is 'meant to be' after claiming British record
Laura Muir hopes breaking the British 1,500m record in Paris earlier this month is a sign of things to come as she guns for gold at the Olympic Games.
Having finished seventh in the final at Rio 2016, Muir took silver at the last edition of the games in Tokyo, finishing behind Kenya's Faith Kipyegon with a time of 3:54.50.
The 31-year-old Scot has been tipped to go one better this year after running a British record of 3:53:79 at the Diamond League meeting in the French capital on July 7.
Speaking exclusively to Stat Perform, Muir outlined her hope that the 2024 Games will mark the culmination of her progress over the last few years.
"The record I broke was the record that I ran in the Tokyo Olympics, winning silver," she said, reflecting on her record time.
"So to break my British record that I ran winning silver, and to do it in the city that the next Olympics is going to be held in… it was just a 'this is meant to be' moment.
"It was really special, and to run the fastest I've ever ran just ahead of the Olympics was perfect and such a big confidence boost.
"I'm just going to go into the Games in the best shape I've ever been in."
Muir's silver medal in Tokyo came in front of no public spectators, with crowds in the Japanese capital limited to fellow athletes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She is excited about the chance to share her experience with others this time around, saying: "It was such a shame that nobody could watch the biggest events in Tokyo.
"It's just so nice that people can come and spectate now, not just athletics but lots of different sports.
"With it being so close to home it'll be really easy for people to travel out there, it's not a big time difference, so it'll be so much easier for people to watch. I'm just really excited that they can soak up that atmosphere."
Team GB managed five athletics medals in Tokyo (two silver, three bronze), having taken seven in 2016 and six on home soil at London 2016.
With the likes of Matt Hudson-Smith and Keeley Hodgkinson also tipped to be in medal contention, Muir has high hopes regarding Team GB's overall prospects.
"I think it's a fantastic team we've got out in Paris, so I'm just really excited to see how everybody gets on," she added.
"To see Matt get his European record, Keeley get her British record, I got my British record a couple of weeks before that… it's a really, really exciting place to be.
"I think we're so strong across so many different events as well, which is so exciting, and the depth of that within some events, especially in endurance running, it's really exciting to see."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
