This morning I found out whether or not I'd made it on to the British bobskeleton talent squad after almost a year long selection process called power2podium.
I got good news!!!! I am on - phew! I was on a bus when my phone rang and had to leave the call. There was no way I was going to be able to hold it together in public if it was bad news. The reason I was on the bus was because I was on the way to pick up my car from a garage. So once I got in the car I pulled over and returned the call. By this point I felt physically sick with nerves. And typically Lizzie's phone was engaged as she was of course on the phone to my fellow p2p'ers. Trying to hold it together I waited and she called back and delivered the great news that the selection team were pleased with my performance and the way I conduct myself and want to explore my potential further in the sport!!
WOW!!!!! Relief and excitement were my main emotions! I was so pleased for me haha. I couldn't (and still haven't 8 hours later) really process it all. I know I'd said that if I didn't get through I would just take the whole process as a fab experience but to be honest once I'd had a taste of the life and seen how it works for past athletes on the talent squad I wanted it. I would have been bitterly disappointed to have it all end now. Anyway I rang some of the family and sent out some texts etc. Everyone did the whole 'I knew you'd get in' which made me smile! People's support and belief in me has really been astounding! Now although this blog has just been posted there's something you need to know. I wrote it weeks ago. I found out on the 22nd December - a day I will remember for sure! But British Skeleton asked that we didn't post on social media until their media team had done the official press release so if you're reading this it means that that has happened! As you can probably imagine this is killing me! But I wanted to write my reaction down as I'll have forgotten/have new feelings by the time I am allowed to publish/post!
The next bit was hard though. My thoughts almost immediately went to my fellow athletes. Who else was in? I checked our whatsapp group and nothing. During the drive home though some of the guys were posting, and it was all bad news - they got no's. Reality sucks. I can only imagine how that feels and I'd have loved it if everyone could have gone through. We were such a strong team and now we've been cut from 19 to 8. I broke the silence of 'yes' verdicts - feeling pretty shitty and guilty about it to be honest. But of course everyone was brilliant. Slowly we worked out all the yes/no's and like I said 8 yes and 11 no.
So what is next.... whilst sort of feels like the hard bit is done it couldn't be further from the truth. It is now that the hard work starts. But first things first... the kit! Every athlete loves some kit and there's a big bag of shiny Adidas stuff on it's way to me! It's going to be like Christmas! Then on the 15th January the 8 of us go to Germany, we are back on the 31st, get a week at home and head back away on the 7th Feb to the 28th. And so it begins... the life of a winter sports athlete (god that's a weird thing to say)! I am also away the 2nd to 12th Jan working in Spain with the rowers so life is going to be mental!
I've told pretty much everyone now, just got to get things in order at work. Having a cheeky celebratory gin with my flatmate at the moment and then will enjoy Christmas at home with the family! Then the business begins - I will try to juggle a full-time and demanding job in sport with being a full-time athlete myself! Financially it will be tough - I will be taking plenty of unpaid leave and will likely need to search for private sponsorship to fund equipment, travel and patch the hol ein my salary! Blogs may become less frequent lol! Anyway it's been a rollercoaster - but with the best possible ending. Congratulations to the other guys that were selected. And to the one's that weren't I am positive that there will be different opportunities for you to shine at! At least there will be no more ice baths for you :)
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