‘I hope we’ve inspired young people — that’s a perk of the job’ says Team GB

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Package
Left to right: Great Britain’s Asha Philip, Daryll Neita, Dina Asher-Smith and Imani-Lara Lansiquot
PA

Britain’s female stars eclipsed the number of medals won in Rio five years ago and at London 2012 with a total of 29 golds, silvers and bronzes.

They included the 4x100m relay team which clinched bronze on Friday night.

One of the team, Asha Philip, 30, from Leyton, told the Standard: “We hope to inspire the next generation.

Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Team GB Medal Haul

1/69

“We are just four girls from London who turned up to sport every day and just happen to be good at it. And look where we are? We just ran with that desire and had trust in those around us.

“One my nieces comes to training with me and tells her friends, ‘My aunt’s at the Olympics’.” Imani-Lara Lansiquot, 23, added: “This is my first Games and I’m blown away by how amazing and crazy it was. One word stands out about these games — resilience. We went beyond our talent and mental fortitude. Other girls can too.”

Commonwealth silver medallist Jodie Williams, 27, from Welwyn Garden City, nearly quit athletics twice but set a personal best in the 4x400m relay final at the Olympic Stadium.

She said: “For young girls, it must be phenomenal watching the journey of so many female medallists. I hope there’s a girl that can see herself in everyone represented here.”

Team GB’s 4x400m relay finalist Lee Thompson, 24, balances a full-time career as an accountant with athletics in Sheffield.

He said: “I hope what we’ve done has inspired a lot of young people, that’s a perk of the job.

“The first Olympics I watched was London 2012 with Usain Bolt and I started running not long after that.

“As Team GB, it’s amazing how everyone has come together. Nobody’s too good to be spoken to. Three-time Olympians are willing to give advice. It’s always appreciated for us debutants.

“In the next three years, we’ll be there at Paris 2024 fighting for medals.”

His team-mate Michael Ohioze, 26, an ex-footballer from Barnet, added: “I’ve been watching the Olympics since I was little. I remember being in secondary and primary school just racing with my cousins and friends.

“I love sport and it motivates me to be the best I can be. It brought me here today. If anybody out there is watching, don’t let anyone say you can’t do it.

“Being part of this team is unreal. Rooming with sprinters Adam Gemili and Zharnel Hughes, talking to Dina Asher-Smith, all these guys that I watched on TV. It’s surreal and a huge blessing.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in