Becoming an Olympian takes talent, determination, grit and a serious amount of strength – both in body and in mind.
And former GB athlete Michelle Robinson has had plenty of that since she was a little girl.
Sport has been an integral part of Michelle’s life since she was 11 – and pushing herself to the be the best she can be has been a focus that has carried her through many difficult periods. It’s a trait she is now hoping to pass on to her high-achieving teenage children.
‘I think coming from a Jamaican mother with strong values, this has kept me going when I have felt vulnerable,’ Michelle tells Metro.co.uk.
‘I feel really strong when I am lifting heavy weights, in the gym full of muscle-bound men who probably look at me and think “is she really going to lift that?!”
‘At my peak, as an athlete I was squatting “arse to deck” 130kg and cleaning 87.5kg, and I only weighed 65kg and could jump over 14m.
‘Most of my non-athletic friends would say, “are you not scared you will be bulky and look like a man?”
‘So many young girls are scared of this thought, but this mindset needs to change.’
Michelle says mental toughness is the truest indication of strength, and it is something she has had to build over the years.
She remembers one instance of drawing on this mental grit vividly.
It was the day her best friend and fellow athlete Marcia’s mum passed away after suffering an asthma attack while the pair were away competing at the World Student Sames in Buffalo, United States.
‘Marcia had finished competing. It was the day of my final – the women’s triple jump – and I had a phone call in the morning that Marcia’s mum had died,’ remembers Michelle.
‘I delivered the message with the team managers. I am sure you can imagine the devastation and the tears.
‘But Marcia encouraged me to compete in the final.
‘After two “no jumps,” I heard the voice of a lady in the stand saying to me, “come on Miche, you can do this – my mum would want you to.”
‘I went out there and broke the British triple jump record – and ended up 4th place.
‘Even remembering this story, the tears start to form in my eyes. Two women were strong at this moment – Marcia and I.’
Michelle joined her first running club in Wembley. Middlesex Ladies was where she first realised that she could run fast and had a passion for sport.
‘Sport has afforded me a wealth of experiences and knowledge, I am blessed I can now pass onto my children and inspire others,’ says Michelle.
‘Sport is important to me on so many levels. It has helped to frame who I am, as well as had significant positive effects on my mental well-being.’
But getting to the Olympics came at a cost of huge personal sacrifice for Michelle. She had to have a singular focus for much of her youth, give up the things that normal teenagers take for granted. It wasn’t an easy journey.
‘When I think about all the sacrifices that I had to personally make throughout my career and, equally, the sacrifices my mother and father had to make – the list was endless,’ she tells us.
‘I remember being a 15-year-old girl at school and turning down invitations to parties and missing overnight school trips, just so I would not miss training sessions. Athletics was my life.’
The sacrifices continued right up until Michelle retired in 2006. And many of them were much more more significant than missed teenage parties.
‘Some of them were financial sacrifices, which is very different to an elite athlete nowadays,’ Michelle remembers.
‘If you are in the top 10 in the world nowadays in your sport, you are much more supported with everything on a holistic level.’
But the strong sense of community and belonging that Michelle gained from the sporting world more than made up for the difficulties she had to face.
‘When I think back to sport and the social side of things, my mind brings me back to being at the track in Willesden,’ she says.
‘Lots of young people from different cultures, spilled over the track. A community full of laughter, fun and an abundance of talent lined the track.
‘I feel blessed that I always felt supported with my life and my choices (even though some of them were not the best ones in hindsight).’
Michelle says that her training groups became like her family. Which is a crucial dynamic when sport is such an enormous part of your life.
‘The different training groups that I was lucky to belong to at different stages of my career were like my track family.
‘Many friendships were born from track and field and still today the bond I have with a lot of my best friends is from athletics.
‘I emotionally relied on a couple of my closest friends – Marcia and Caroline – during my parents’ break up, when I was 16, and having sport as a serious hobby certainly was a good distraction.’
Michelle says that her relationship with sport and fitness has changed over the years. Now, retired from elite sport, and a mother to three, Michelle has a new perspective about her body, her physical strength, and the messages she wants to spread.
‘I am no longer the competitive female in skimpy shorts wanting to break British records,’ she says. ‘I am now a woman who loves sport and encourages sports participation from grassroots right up.’
She has also been a personal trainer for more than 21 years, and she is a proud ambassador of Diabetes UK.
Sport is an enormous part of family life for Michelle. Having married a former Welsh Rugby player, Matt Robinson, the pair both enjoy keeping fit and they have passed on their passion to their children.
‘Our kids are naturally sporty, and the girls really excel within athletics and netball and have high aspirations to compete at International level one day,’ says Michelle.
‘One of the big factors that has benefitted all of us, is our love for outdoor activity and sport. Anything from a bike ride around the Devon countryside, to a family circuit or a game of tag.
‘During lockdown, we have partnered up with The Qatar Olympic Sport Museum to inspire families to keep active indoors during the pandemic.
‘We are now in the throws of setting up a YouTube channel called ‘The fit family Robinson’s – so watch this space!’
Michelle says that the term ‘strong woman’ means a woman who is determined to keep going, to keep pushing forward despite obstacles they may face, and to keep breaking through glass ceilings.
‘My mum is my role model – she is strong mentally and physically,’ says Michelle.
‘In life you will always face difficulties and struggles.
‘However, what keeps me going is being resilient, positive and having a super strong support system that will catch me if I fall.’
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