Aim High (5 page)

I would love to say that there is a solution out there for every problem. There probably isn't, but I do believe that you can work through to get on the path to your end goal if you are committed to the task and work hard.

I have been very fortunate to have had a great time being an athlete. I have had the opportunity to represent my country, work with some amazing coaches, and also achieve many of my goals. But once my sporting life is over then there will always be other goals that replace my desire to break world records and win gold medals.

The life of an athlete is short. You spend more of your life not competing than competing. I have been really lucky, not to have picked up any major injuries, and only had brief periods where I wasn't able to train or compete. But one thing I do know is that the rest of my life will be filled with other challenges that will become equally important to me, and that they will replace what I feel for wheelchair racing.

Working with up-and-coming athletes is a great deal of fun, and if I can help the athletes that I coach to reach their maximum potential (whether this is representing their country, or winning medals, or just them being the best they can), then I will be happy. I have one thing when coaching that I hold dear. I coach athletes whom I like as people. To really want to help them, to sometimes have to be really tough on them, to pick them up when they are down, it is important for me to have that basic level of trust and respect for them as individuals. I hope that I will never coach an athlete who I don't like first and foremost.

Throughout my athletics career I have enjoyed working with and in the media, presenting TV and radio programmes, commentating on sports events and also writing many articles for a wide variety of journals, magazines and newspapers. Right now that work looks set to continue and develop and that is a really exciting challenge ahead for me.

When I know that the time is right to stop, then I will not have any regrets about ending my athletics career. There may have been a couple of races that I could have done differently, but actually I have come to terms with the fact that winning 11 gold Paralympic medals is OK – it was always something that I wanted to do, and I have done it. At Paralympic level I don't think that I could have done any more. My sister summed it up for me in really simple terms. She told me that I only have to prove things to myself. The rest doesn't matter. I have proved to myself that I am a good athlete, and I have competed well.

I have always known that one day I would wake up and just wouldn't want to do wheelchair racing at international level any more. It wouldn't be a slow, protracted decision – it would be quite immediate. I knew after Athens that I wouldn't compete in Beijing (I don't think a lot of people believed me when I said this in just about every interview I have done). When you have been around as long as I have, then many people just presume that you will keep going forever. But Athens wasn't quite the time to stop. There were a couple more things that I wanted to do, and I want to finish my international career in an event that is held on British soil.

I will always want to be fit and healthy. I don't think that I will ever stop training in my chair or on my bike, but I don't always want to be an athlete.

There is one thing that I know. As one door closes another one opens, and there are plenty of challenges and goals that I still have in my life that will keep me Aiming High.

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