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Mar/ Apr 2018 – British Fencer – Interview
JJ Web – JJ has the firm support from his family, and with hard work and determination, he hasn’t looked back, for he is now part of the men’s sabre squad, training full-time at the Elite Training Centre in London, with the Tokyo Olympics 2020 Games in his sights.
Q: What made you decided to take up fencing?
I decided to take up fencing purely because it was something new. when I was 11 (and even now) I was always up for a new challenge and when I saw a fencing demo at school it was clear to be my next adventure!
Sept/ Oct 2017
Jenny Archer – She was David Weir’s Coach – Interview
This interview was done before David Weir (the British Paralympic Wheelchair Champion who won a total of six gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Paralympic games) went to Rio Olympics in 2016 last year, he came back home with no medals but he showed everybody how determined he still is, when he became victorious this year by acquiring his seventh win of the London Marathon.
When David was an athlete, what was he like?
David is a family man, he loves going home to his kids, that family time is important but when he was training, he was 150 per cent devoted to what he was doing.
May/ Jun 2017
Ayaz Bhuta – British Wheelchair Rugby Player – Interview
The number 10 Goal scorer, Ayaz Bhuta 25, from Bolton might be only 3 feet and 7 inches tall and weighing 6 stone but he is a quick, fast and a feisty young man with so much determination and skill. He is a British Wheelchair Rugby player with so much stamina, and a dream to go all the way. I did a short interview with him at the Copperbox in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Q: Who inspired you to take up Wheelchair Rugby? And how long have you been with the team?
My current coach, he’s been my mentor all the way. And I have been with the British rugby team for 3 years now.
Q: You wasn’t playing Wheelchair Rugby at London 2012, you were watching on the side lines, how did you feel about that?
I was just watching the British rugby team finished fifth with Australia winning the gold. I just wanted to get out there and play, and now I’m here, it’s amazing.
Jan/ Feb 2017
Natasha Coates – British Disabled Gymnast – Interview
I met an amazing 21 year old young lady called Natasha Coates at the British Championships in Liverpool, she is a British Disability Gymnast, who has won 15 major titles, and does her training at The Wire Gymnastics Club in Warrington, in Cheshire. She was happy to share her inspirational story about her love for gymnastics and a rare health condition which nearly took her life.
Q: How important is it for disability gymnasts to be showcased alongside the able bodied gymnastics?
It’s really impor,tant for we work just as hard as the main stream athletes so we should compete in the same Arena’s, for it’s really nice to perform in front of a huge crowd, it’s great experience, for me to learn through the years of competing, I’ve never been and perform to a large crowd, so it’s a great learning experience.
Sept/ Oct 2016
Tom Daley – Diver
When he looks down from the 10 metre board, to view his entry, you wonder what he is thinking at that moment in time. It’s high up, it’s as if he is ‘the king of the world’, looking down on the small people looking up with wonderment, until he makes a fearless leap submerging into the water below. He is still only 22 years old. (To read more go to Issues page, Edition 25).
Jul/ Aug 2016
Saskia Clarke and Hannah Mills – Sailing 470 – Interview
Hannah Mills Saskia Clarke are British sailors who competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics and who were selected, to sail in the 470 Women’s class for Team GB in the 2012 Summer Olympics. They went on to win Silver at the games. And they both also claimed Gold at the 2012, 470 World Championships in Barcelona.
Q: What inspired you to take up sailing?
Hannah Mills: To me my family wasn’t into sailing, so I was always hugely competitive, I have two older brothers which makes you a bit more competitive. I just loved all sports, I loved going sailing and being out on the water, doing what you do on your own, no parents around and just getting on with it, just being independent. There’s so much to it, it’s multi dimensional, so it’s a great sport. (To read more go to Issues page, Edition 24).
May/ Jun 2016
JACK BEAUMONT – Rower – Interview
Is a memb
er of the Leander club – he’s 22 year old, and is a rower in the men’s double scull and in the men’s quadruple scull. And he lives in Maidenhead, his hometown – Anyway, I had a chance to interview him at the Royal Henley Regatta.
Q: How does it feel being here and winning the fourth time at the Royal Henley Regatta?
I’ve come here all my life, since I was a child, I’ve come here and watched, so I’ve always thought I’d love to win here, someday. It’s fanatic, it’s unlike anything you do in rowing, you train so hard, you never normally get to have your friends and family all there. It feels so local for us. I get huge support, when the crowd calls out, come on Jack! come on Jack! and that really helps, that sort of edge you get against the opposition. It’s always so memorable, winning here. (To read more go to Issues page, Edition 23).
Mar/ Apr 2016
MAGGIE ALPHONSI – Former Captain Rugby Player – Interview
Q: Who or what influenced you to take up Rugby?
I was influenced by my PE teacher. Her name was Liz Burgess and she was the captain of the Welsh Women’s Rugby team. At school I use to get in trouble a lot and she encouraged me to go down to my local rugby club and give the sport a go. I feel in love with the sport as for the first time I was been praised rather than being told off.
Q: How did it feel winning the 2014 Rugby World Cup over Canada?
I had two feelings. Feelings of happiness and feelings of relief. To have missed out on winning two World cup finals previously which meant going into our third final we had a weight of expectations on our shoulders and we wanted to make sure we didn’t walk away with silver again! (To read more go to Issues page, Edition 21).
Jan/ Feb 2016
MAIA AMAI (International) – Wheelchair Rugby – Interview
I would like to know a little bit about your background, Maia?
Well, I am a Māori from Whakatane, but at the moment I live in Auckland in New Zealand.
Could you tell me what happened to you Maia, how did you get your injuries?
I was in a car fire when I was 18 months old, when I was a baby, and I was in hospital for the burns and then they did something wrong and I got a spinal infection, and then I became paralysed from the waist down. (To read more go to Issues page, Edition 20).
December 2015
ANNE JULIE (International) – Sailing competitor – Interview
An Interview with Anne Julie at the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Weymouth and Portland. Who influence you to take up sailing?
My father, I followed on from my father for he sailed
at a high level, mainly in Denmark where I am from.
He was the one that was getting me to the harbour and introduced me to sailing in the beginning and it just evolved from there. Me and my sister Maiken, sail together in competitions, which is great.
November 2015
LIZ JOHNSON – Swimmer – Interview
A 29 year old British swimmer who has won gold medals in the Paralympic Games and IPC World Championships.
Who or what influenced you to take up the 100m breaststroke?
I have Cerebral Palsy which affects the right side of my body. One side of my brain has to control both sides of my body and there is less of a co-ordination issue involved in 100m breaststroke, because one side of my body attempts to mirror the other, which is how that event prevailed.
How did it feel winning the gold medal in Beijing in 2008?
Initially, when I realised I’d won the gold medal in Beijing, I felt pure relief – relief that I’d achieved the ultimate and all of the choices that I’d made through my life had been worth it.
October 2015
HARRY AIKINES-ARYEETEY – Athlete
Is a sprinter in the 100m and the 200m, is not shy of either, for he has worked very hard to get his body in tip up condition, to compete at a high level.
And with his GB team mates, James Dasaolu and Adam Gemili, he is now set to win as many medals as possible.
His parents are both Ghanaian but he was born in Carshalton and showed great promise, in the 100 m and 200 m, as a young man growing up watching his hero, Dwain Chambers who was one of the fastest men in the world.
September 2015
DEREK DERENALAGI – Para- Athlete/ Shot put
Derek Derenalagi, is 40 years old and now living in Watford, Hertfordshire with his family. He was a keen rugby player, a soldier, but is now a discus thrower and a motivational speaker.
He was born to a single mother but he was raised by his grandmother in the Nakavu Village in Nadi, Fiji. He decided to join the HM Armed Forces, the British Army in 1999, but was injured whilst on a tour of duty in Afghanistan in July, 2007. He was on a tour of duty in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, when his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) as it travelled to a helicopter landing site. I met him competing at the Invictus games in 2014.
August 2015
PAT CASH – Former Tennis Player
Pat Cash is 49, but is still tall, good-looking and as UK women’s magazine independent poll pointed out, the Sexiest Grandfather of the Year.
Now a retired Australian professional tennis player, he at his best was a hard-fighting serve-and-volleyer, and had a memorable trademark by wearing a black-and-white checked headband and a cross earring in his ear, which he still wears today.
The tennis world’s got to known Pat as a talented junior tennis player in the early 1980s. He turned professional in 1982 and won his first top-level singles title that year in Melbourne, he was well on his way, for in 1983, Pat became the youngest player to play in a Davis Cup final.
July 2015
GORDON REID – Wheelchair Tennis – Interview
Q: When? and who inspired
you to play tennis?
I was inspired to play when I was a young kid by Roger Federer, although one of my best memories as a junior was watching Goran Ivanisavic win at Wimbledon.
Q: Your British No.1, how does that make you feel?
It’s a nice feeling to be the top ranked player in Britain, although I don’t think about that too often. I try to focus on my main goal of trying to become the highest ranked player in the world.
June 2015
DAMIEN THOMLINSON – Wheelchair Basketball – Interview
Damien is a 34 year old man, who served with the 2nd Commando Regiment of the Australian Army. The day that changed his life forever, was during a night patrol in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He was driving a vehicle with three other men and went over a IED bomb, unfortunately Damien got most of the impact, partially losing both legs. He played Wheelchair basketball in the Copperbox at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, at the Invictus games in 2014.
May 2015
DICK FRANKLIN – ‘Boy’s Club’ of Eton Manor – Interview
In 1909 four Old Etonian philanthropists founded Eton Manor ‘Boys Club’, which was an old rubbish tip and from that the development, was converted into a sports ground. It was given the name of the ‘Wilderness’, possibly because it was such a vast area. Eton Manor Boys’ Club closed in 1967 and the Club ground fell into disuse in 2001 before being selected for use during the 2012 Olympic Games. And now it’s the Lee Valley Hockey
and Tennis Centre in the Queen Elizabeth
Olympic Park.
April 2015
BEN MAHER – Horse Rider
Benjamin Maher is a 32 year old, born in Enfield and is one of the world’s top British horse show jumping competitors.
He began riding at the age of eight. Educated at Saffron Walden County High School. After finishing school he trained with Liz Edgar before travelling to Switzerland to further his education with Beat Mandli, a Swiss equestrian and Olympic medalist.
March 2015
JODIE WILLIAMS – Athlete
Not many people know Jodie Williams, though she has been well-known in athletic circles for years but it won’t be too long before she’s the talk of the town, and takes the athletic world by storm. She is a young British aspiring sprinter who specialises in the 100 and 200 metres and trains at the Herts Phoenix AC Athletic club.
She was born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, to an English father, and a Trinidadian mother, named Richard and Christine Williams who were both county-level sprinters. Her father recognized her talent at a young age, he said, “Jodie would finish, whilst her nearest rivals were still only about halfway up the track”.
February 2015
STEVE GILL – Archer – Interview
I met Steve Gill at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in September 2014 last year, when he decided to take part in the Archery at the Invictus Games. I found out that he lived in Cosby, near Leicester, and was an ex-army man, who was serving in the British Army in Northern Ireland, and was severely wounded by an IRA bomb in 1989.
Q: Has it been quite difficult, for you Steve since your injuries?
“I was wounded, and I am here, and you track on, don’t you. I’ve just thrown myself into different things really, everything opens another gate, so if you meet the right people, you could have a decent life after an injury.”
January 2015
JAY ADAMS – Skate boarder
Jay Adams was an American skateboarder most prominently known as one of the original members of Z-Boys skateboarding team. He is known as the most influential skateboarders of
all time. He was born in a part
of Venice, California known
to locals in the area as
“Dogtown”.
He began skating and surfing at the age of four.
December 2014
KATIE ARCHIBALD – Track Cyclist
Katie Archibald is a 20 year old Scottish
racing cyclist from Glasgow, Scotland, who currently rides on the track for Great Britain and the Scottish Cycling Braveheart.com
team.
She is a reigning world and European champion (2014) in the women’s team pursuit as part of the Great Britain team, and the reigning European individual pursuit champion.
As a swimmer in her youth, Katie took up cycling competitively in 2011 on the grass track. She took it up relatively late but
showed huge potential, then she changed in 2012, on to hard track.
November 2014
REBECCA ADLINGTON – Swimmer
Rebecca Adlington is an English freestyle swimmer, who represented Great Britain in the 2008 Summer Olympics, competing in the 400 m and 800 m freestyle swimming events. She won two bronze medals at London 2012 to add to the two gold medals she brought home with her from Beijing four years earlier.
She started swimming with Sherwood Colliery Swimming Club, and was selected for the Nottinghamshire County Swim Squad (Nova Centurion). The Sherwood Swimming Baths in Adlington’s hometown of Mansfield, where she began swimming as a child is now renamed as the Rebecca Adlington Swimming Centre when it reopened after refurbishment in January 2010.
October 2014
ANDREW TURNER – Athlete
Andrew Turner is a 33 year old, English track and field athlete who specialises in the 110 metres hurdles and occasionally competes in the 100 and 200 metres sprints as well as long jump. He was born in Nottingham, and showed his ability when he won the bronze medal in the 110 m hurdles at the 2006 European Athletics Championships, and finished fourth at the 2007 European Indoor Athletics Championships.
He is an interesting character, an emotional man who has gone through a lot in the last few years, he’s not just been dogged with injuries but his basic lottery grant of around £12,000 was cut, due to the performance at the 2008 Summer Olympics , where he reached the quarter-finals stage, based on the assumption that he would not be a medal hopeful for the following year’s World Championships.
September 2014
JODIE STIMPSON – Triathlon – Interview
I found Jodie a very out going, fun girl, with a strong personality which made my job easy. She was open and very forth-coming with her answers, we talked about who inspired her and her willingness to compete.
What inspired you to take up this event, it’s quite a vigorous sport?
Well, my dad taught me to swim when I was 4, and my uncle did Ironman so they both took me to my first race when I was nine, so I did that and won the first race. So it’s kind of, I quite like this.. and then I just carried on. I couldn’t picture myself doing anything else.
August 2014
RICHARD WHITEHEAD – Athlete
There are no limitations where Richard Whitehead is concerned, born without the lower half of both legs, he is a British athlete, who runs both the full and half marathon with prosthetic legs.
Richard’s main event is marathon running. He ran his first marathon in 2004, and now he runs the London Marathon every year. He has run over 24 in total using his high performance carbon composite ‘blades’.
Many spectators who have seen him run through the streets of London cheered him on, with admiration.
July 2014
CHRISTINE OHURUOGU – Athletes
Christine Ijeoma Ohuruogu, is a 30 year old British athlete, who is the current World and former Olympic and Commonwealth Champion in the 400 metres. She is a double World Champion and was a silver medalist at the 2012 London Olympics games. She is the first British female to win two World Championship titles, and three global titles, at the same event.
May 2014
ALISTAIR BROWNLEE – Triathlon
Alistair Edward Brownlee, (on the right) is a Yorkshire born athlete, with strengths in swimming, running and cycling, he is a British triathlon competitor, and is the current Olympic champion, having won the gold for Britain at the 2012 London Olympic games, and is still only 25 years old.
4Sports magazine 