Kelly Holmes: the golden girl

It’s been 11 years since athlete Kelly Holmes powered her way from the back of the chasing pack of 800m runners at the Athens Olympics, edging past the reigning champion in an epic final 50m and clinching gold by the length of a running shoe. Her arms aloft in triumph and disbelief, Kelly had only decided to run the race the night before the heats began. Propelled by this victory, she repeated the feat a few days later in her favoured 1,500m event to become one of the UK’s most decorated athletes.

Kelly, who is taking part in Dubai’s Electric Run today, says the true significance of her achievement didn’t really register until she returned to her home town of Hildenborough in Kent, where she received an ecstatic hero’s welcome. ‘When you’ve got your own goal, as I did from the age of 14, you never really expect anything to come of it,’ she smiles. ‘But when it happens you think “oh my God”. Everyone was going crazy when three weeks earlier, everything had been so different.

‘A friend showed me a photo recently that was taken on that homecoming bus parade and it just showed the enormity of the occasion and the huge number of people who came out to support me – about 80,000 of them. It was just wild. Pretty overwhelming to be honest.’

But the plaudits didn’t stop there. Kelly, 45, was appointed a dame in the New Year’s Honours List in December 2004. A few weeks earlier, she had been crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year, regarded as one of the most prestigious accolades a British sportsperson can get.

Kelly’s is a classic triumph-over-adversity story. She spent time in a children’s home because her teenage mother couldn’t cope on her own. Her Jamaican father walked out before Kelly even reached her first birthday. ‘I liked sports and started training after joining a local athletics club when I was 12,’ she says.

However, six years later, Kelly joined the British Army instead, at 18. She quickly became its judo champion and was a regular in various army athletics events.

Kelly remembers watching the 1992 Summer Olympics on television, and seeing Lisa York – an athlete she had beaten once – in the 3,000m heats, and deciding to return to the sport and eventually become a champion athlete. But later in life, as injuries plagued her career, she battled depression and self-harm. She eventually sought help and was diagnosed with depression and prescribed medication.

Today, Kelly is a sporting ambassador, role model and health and fitness crusader who visits the UAE regularly. She participates in Electric Run sponsor Daman Activelife’s community-centric sports initiatives. The health insurance company regularly organises several high-profile sport-related events to engage the community and tackle issues such as obesity, diabetes and breast cancer.

For Kelly, it wasn’t easy leaving her athletics career on such a high.

One of her most cherished post-athletics projects has been turning an old sweet shop in Hildenborough, where she worked as a youngster, into a café.

Kelly is not comfortable being a spokesperson for athletics, particularly during this period where a series of drugs scandals have rocked the sport. She prefers to be a more general health and sports guru.

‘I am more of an ambassador for encouraging and engaging people to get the best out of themselves, not necessarily in a sport-specific way,’ she says. ‘It’s about the individual and how you can get the most out of your life. If you are fitter, healthier and more positive, then you can do better things in your life. If you feel down and don’t like how you look or feel, you bring yourself and everything around you down.’

This is one reason Kelly is so enthusiastic about the Electric Run. It is a fun event open to everyone with the aim of getting those people who take part to continue being active. Dubbed the brightest 5km night run in the world, combining lights, music and exercise in a unique experience, the race makes its UAE debut in Meydan, Dubai, before moving on to Abu Dhabi in 2016.

The 5km neon track also sees giant light installations and DJs blasting electric music. ‘What I love about these events is that they are so inspiring for a lot of people and encourage them to be healthy and active. The Electric Run is a unique concept. People are going to be excited by all the neon. Just from the point of view of engaging people to take part in exercise without being too serious about getting a good finish time, this is good. Anyone can do it; friends and family, different age groups, girls, boys, mums and dads. You can run, walk, skip, do whatever you want really.’

‘Some people might use it as a training session but it is still a fun event and not a race to be nervous about. They are doing it as part of their training, but for a lot of people it will be the first time they’ve ever done anything like this. There is no need to be scared because you won’t be the only person doing this for the first time!’

Although Kelly continues to train regularly, the intensity is a lot less than when she was chasing gold. While it is important for her to stay in shape if she still wants to compete, she’s by no means fanatical any more.

‘When I was an athlete, I’d train twice a day, six times a week, sometimes three times a day. I’d do just about everything, from short runs, hill runs, weights, circuits, rower, bike, stepper, aqua running... everything. I did a lot of training, quite high-intensity.

‘I still push myself though. I also go on my bike a lot more than I used to and do the odd half marathon. But basically, I do not need to train every day and push my body to the extreme any more. I’ve done that for years. I just want to be fit and healthy, so when things like this come up and I can do them.

In addition, Kelly is a mentor at Activelife for the children’s champion programme – a project that mentors young people of high potential so they can excel in sports and also become inspirational figures within their own communities.

‘When we go out and do a circuit in the morning, I want to be joining them,’ says Kelly. ‘I might be four times older, but I want to show them that there is nothing to stop you from staying fit, motivated and focused.’

Kelly is quick to point out the importance of events such as Electric Run in children’s lives. ‘They can play a big role as the children who participate can understand that exercise is very important from a young age.’

Kelly has always maintained that being a professional athlete can be both tough and stressful and has been very open about the depression and self-harming episodes she faced while being injured. That admirable openness not only helped her pull through but has inspired others in a similar position.

‘It’s really hard when you are a sportsperson, because everyone has their perception of what that means. You’re seen by how you perform and at what level you perform, but you are still a human being.

‘We all go through stages in life that are pretty tough. Me being open about my issues shocked a lot of people but also gave hope to others – nobody is given anything on a plate when they go on a journey.

‘If you want to be successful you have to work hard. You may have to go through some life issues along the way, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t achieve something.’