In 2004 Kelly Holmes approached thehome straight of her career as a muchadmired and respected middledistance runner - who had often runher heart out, but had been so-often

been blighted by injury. She was a battlerwho gave it her all, had achieved somenotable moments on the international stagebut who looked destined to never quiteperhaps reach the highest heights.

All of that famously changed in a matter ofdays at the Athens Olympics. Two stunning gold

medals at 800m and 1500m - a unique feat inGB women’s track and field - meant perceptions,reputations and opinions would be foreveraltered. The former Army PT would become agiant of international athletics and an icon ofBritish sport. Dame Kelly Holmes was living,breathing evidence of what determination, desire,persistence, talent and belief can do - particularlywhen harnessed in tandem with preparation.

Since retiring Dame Kelly has applied muchof that same determination to numerousprojects and continues to make things

happen and achieve great results. This isparticularly the case with her On Camp WithKelly organisation (OCWK). What started as arelatively low key mentoring project with a fewyoung girls on a single trip to South Africa in2004 has become a ground breaking andhighly influential programme that has createda new template for support, planning,preparation, guidance and performance.

Kelly kindly took the time from herrelentless schedule to speak to ultra-FIT andreflect on her career, talk about On Camp with

ultra-FIT JAN 201214

TH

E u

ltra

-FIT

INTE

RV

IEW

HOLMESKELLY

By Guy Holland

Kelly, her future plans as well as her ownfitness practices post athletics.

Guy Holland: On Camp with Kelly was

a partly altruistic desire on your part to

put something back into your sport, but

was it also based on failings that you

might have identified in the system?

Dame Kelly: Like most sports people whohave had their time and enjoyed life changingbenefits from their pursuit I had an urge togive something back. So that was certainly amotivation, but what many people don’t realisewas that I had already decided to run amentoring camp before I won my Olympicgold medals. What happened in Athens didn’talter my intentions in any way but it did allowthose plans to operate on a whole new level.

The scale and possibilities changed and asan Olympic Champion, I was able to draw somuch more attention to what I was doingwhich in turn generated interest and support.No system is perfect. We will never identify allthe talent at the right time and we will neverhold on to all of that talent and not everytalented individual will reach their absolute

potential. When I was 18 there were so manymore girls who could have been better than Iwas. They all gave up. I felt I could createsomething that would assist in the process ofkeeping people involved, nurture them andbring extra dimensions that would allow us tokeep hold of some of our athletic youth andadd that vital extra few percent that wouldmake the difference between a champion anda good runner who nobody has ever heard of.

To be a successful world-class athlete takesmore than running fast - that comes as a by-product of everything else that we do. It’s allabout building the right team, creating the rightenvironment, providing back-up support, bringingorganisation to the smallest important details,encouraging and allowing the right mindset andlearning life skills that will make not only a better

athlete but a more rounded human being able toovercome hurdles, handle triumphs, accept andlearn from defeats, be respectful and conductthemselves in the right way.

My position post Athens meant I was in theperfect place to act as a role model and tohelp, encourage and inspire. OCWK is a kindof extreme version of something we’ve allexperienced. As kids, most boys and girlspretend they were a particular hero whenplaying a sport - how many kids have ‘been’Jonny Wilkinson when lining up for a penaltykick, or Freddie Flintoff when trying to bowlfast? I know when it came to running SebCoe was my hero.

This process automatically makes rolemodels of these sporting figures, so I justwanted to take that to the ultimate level andensure that I really did become accessible,available and helpful to aspiring athletes asthey come through the ranks.

GH: And from recently revealed

results it looks like it is all working

according to plan!

DK: Yes, what started out as a small trainingcamp out in South Africa is now an eight-year-old project that is possibly the largestprogramme of mentoring anybody has puttogether. I have a large number of top-flightexperts across areas like nutrition, sportspsychology and physiotherapy, who areaccessible to OCWK members on an ongoing

basis to provide advice and support. Andbecause we have been going for so long ithas been possible to look at valid measurableeffects of the programme. These haveconclusively proved that we have made asignificant difference.

GH: And you are much more than a

name and figurehead.

DK: Definitely, I couldn’t just fulfil a role likethat … I have to get stuck in. Of course I’maware that my name is a way of attractingattention but I am fully committed and veryhands-on involved. I’m always making anuisance of myself with phone calls and emails

JAN 2012 ultra-FIT 15

TH

E u

ltra-F

ITIN

TE

RV

IEW

My position post Athens meant

I was in the perfect place to act as

a role model and to help,

encourage and inspire

to the athletes! I am not even a coach and nordo I want to be, but I do know what athletesneed, I know what the life is all about and I amable to apply my life in and around the sport totheir careers as they are just beginning.

Whatever they are going through, highs,lows, doubts, disappointments, euphoria, Ican guarantee I’ve been there too. I’ve madethe mistakes and I’ve taken the chances thatworked out. This applies to losing luggage inflight on the way to a meeting and having toborrow and buy kit (always keep your spikesand outfit in your hand luggage!) or lining upfor the biggest race of your life in thebiggest event on the planet.

However, none of this could happenwithout the brilliant team I have up and downthe country who are as committed andpassionate about OCWK as I am. Also Avivahas been on board from the beginning and it’scommitment to us and to athletics is immense.

GH: Olympic year is now upon us.

You must be very excited.

DK: Just a bit! It was a long hard road to winit but that was only the very beginning of theprocess. We now have to deliver and I amcertain we will. There has never been somuch funding in British sport as there hasbeen over the last seven years and thebenefits of this are not just about this year,they’re about the decades to come.

Despite the state of the global economy andall the prophets of doom we are on track andactually ahead of delivery time for the Games.It has been a remarkable feat of planning,organisation, funding, engineering andexecution. If there’s one place in the world that

ultra-FIT JAN 201216

TH

E u

ltra

-FIT

INTE

RV

IEW

Continued on page 84

THE KELLY EFFECTIt has been shown that the Aviva sponsored On Camp with Kelly makes a measurabledifference to athletic performance.

The first ever study to investigate the benefits of an educational mentoringprogramme showed that 80% of the OCWK athletes had better performance resultsthan their counterparts. On Camp with Kelly commissioned BPS Chartered SportsPsychologist Dr. Anna Waters to carry out a research project on the impact of theinitiative on athletes’ performance. Detailed interviews were conducted with thoseathletes who had been part of the first OCWK educational camp in 2004 and otherleading athletes on the programme. Analysing the interview transcripts it becameapparent that six key benefits of the programme emerged - elements that have beendeveloped into a six step mentoring model that has a direct impact on athleticperformance and could provide a template for future sports mentoring programmesand a legacy post London 2012.

The six steps include one-to-one mentoring from Dame Kelly, support, preparation,education, long term regular contact and injury management. Research showed that thesefactors lead to improvements in athlete’s confidence, self-belief, race knowledge, motivation,concentration, persistence and competitiveness. All of which resulted in improved performance.

This was perfectly demonstrated by the success of Hannah England who took 1500msilver at the 2011 IAAF World Championships.

Hannah said, “The support and education I received has been crucial in helping me to achievesuccess in senior competition. For a mentor to be effective you need to know them well and Ihave developed a great relationship with Kelly over the last seven years. She has been thereand done it and she knows exactly what you have to do and what you need to hear.”

Kelly commented, “Developing athletes of the future, with Aviva’s support, is a passion ofmine. Through a long term successful mentoring programme we can develop the kind oftalent in the UK that can compete with and beat the best in the world.

“It can open up new ideas and bring the best out of people. Everyone has obstacles toovercome, whether they be sports orientated or personal and one way of achieving this isthrough this mentoring model.”

‘On Camp with Kelly’, supported by Aviva since 2004, is Dame Kelly Holmes’

mentoring and education initiative for talented young middle distance athletes.

For more info visit www.oncampwithkelly.co.uk

can deliver an amazing and uplifting globalevent in these times then it is Great Britain.

I am a Global Ambassador for BritishTelecom, which is the communications andinformation supplier for the Olympicsworldwide. It is predicted that the websitealone will be receiving 10 billion hits per day!If you think there is pressure on an athleteimagine having to provide fault free globalcoverage 24 hours a day!

Things like this just underline how vast thissporting event is, how many people it involves,how much hard work goes on, how muchinterest there is right around the world andhow inspiring and captivating it all is. Stars willbe born, amazing stories will unfold and 100’sof brand new sporting chapters will be written,future generations of sports people will beinspired. It will also be amazing for tourism, artsand culture and it’s all happening right here!

GH: You still look in amazing shape,

how do you keep yourself fit these days?

DK: Looks can be deceiving! Some peoplestill think I can just get back on the track andbe world class. Those days have gone! It takesa bit of mental adjustment to realise you can’tand never will perform like you did before. Buthaving a more ‘normal’ life gives me fargreater insight into what it takes to live likemost people with busy lives who have to gettheir exercise and fitness in where they can.

It’s all very well for a full time athlete to talkabout keeping fit and healthy when that isbasically what they do for a job. When youhave a multitude of commitments, are dashingaround the country, attending meetings,running a business, getting up at 6am andgetting home at 11pm then you get a different

perspective on life, sport and exercise balance.And that is what I have to deal with now!

Obviously it helps to have had years andyears of track, road, gym and pool work ‘in thebank’ but now I train when I can. I still run butsometimes it might only be twice a week andif that is all my schedule allows then I’m notgoing to beat myself up about it. A little and

often is most effective for me these days.Regular bursts of 15 minutes here and there:press ups, sit ups and running up and downstairs. This is something we can all benefitfrom. There is no huge time commitment, noequipment required and no real spacenecessary, just the discipline and focus to doit - and that is something I still have plenty of!

I have genuinely developed a huge respect forall those people and no doubt ultra-FIT readerswho organise themselves so that exercise and

fitness plays such a big and important part oftheir lives. It might have nothing to do with sportsor competing but still requires admirableorganisation, discipline and application.

I will always be active by nature and since Istopped competing I have been able toindulge in new pursuits such as skiing, cycling,rock climbing and motorbiking and I’m lovingthe freedom to do this.

GH: So what is going on for Dame

Kelly at the moment and what

does the future hold?

DK: Obviously On Camp with Kelly remains ahuge part of my life and will continue to beso. I am also very excited to have justlaunched my own clothing line throughTesco. Something that started as a fewideas and sketched doodles on scraps ofpaper has now become a genuine range ofleisure and exercise clothes for women. Ispoke to lots of women collated as muchinformation as I could, merged that with myown thoughts and observations and the newclothing brand is the result. I also have arange of fitness equipment available throughTesco all of which is very exciting for me. To have had an idea and pursued it to thispoint has been a very rewarding process.(www.tesco.com/kellyholmes). I alsohave a number of plans that will roll the Kelly Holmes brand into other areas where it can continue to help and support andencourage people in and around sport and physical activity. There will be moreannouncements throughout 2012!

For more information on Kelly and her

activities visit: www.doublegold.co.uk

UF

ultra-FIT JAN 201284

TH

E u

ltra

-FIT

INTE

RV

IEW

Whatever they

are going

through, highs,

lows, doubts,

disappointments,

euphoria, I can

guarantee I’ve

been there too