Former Olympic diver Freddie Woodward opens up about the mental battles that defined his athletic career more than any physical challenge. From being talent-spotted at junior school to competing at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Woodward’s journey reveals the hidden struggles of athletes who feel they’re “clinging to the bottom of the good enough group.” Despite training alongside diving legends like Tom Daley and Jack Laugher, self-doubt shadowed his achievements – even when he made the Olympic team.

When Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi won bronze in the K1 slalom canoeing competition at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics as a mother in her mid-thirties, she knew it marked the end of one journey and the beginning of another. The French-born athlete defied conventions of her era by balancing motherhood and Olympic training, later becoming a pioneering coach who championed gender equality in canoe slalom. Despite facing systemic resistance, Fox-Jerusalmi led the fight to introduce women's canoe singles (C1) to international competition, culminating in its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 – where her daughter Jess Fox claimed the historic first gold medal.

Olympic diver Yona Knight-Wisdom revolutionised his performance through mental imagery: “Because I’ve been through that process so many times in my head, when I get on the board, I’m like, ‘I’ve been here before; I know what I need to think about.’” The Jamaican three-time Olympian reveals how working on his mindset, particularly through visualisation, transformed his diving career and continues to guide his approach to life beyond the platform.