JAZMIN SAWYERS ON THE DEDICATION IT TOOK TO RETURN TO THE WORLDS BIGGEST STAGE

Through our “In Their Words” series, we have been catching up with athletes that are leading their sports, to discuss their experience taking part in the games that almost didn’t happen. In this piece, Olympic Long Jumper Jazmin Sawyers talks through her feelings as a returning Olympian and how she tackled self-motivation during the pandemic.

How does it feel to become an Olympian again?

Excited. More than anything I’m excited, this what we’ve been waiting for five years now so I can’t wait to get out there.

It’s confirmation that all my hard work is paying off and that means the world. Olympics is the ultimate goal, the dream for most athletes and to be able to know that I’ve made it, means everything to me.

You’re a returning Olympian, does it feel any different this time around?

I think I expected to feel slightly less excited, I thought you know I’ve done this before, I know what’s coming, so it’s normal. It doesn’t feel normal, I’m just as excited as last time, maybe even more. I do feel I’m going in slightly more confident than last time because I know what to expect.

It’s still just as big of a deal as before, possibly more so because this one is happening in the middle of a pandemic, so I feel like I’ve been really lucky to be able to do this. It almost felt like it would never come at one point. You know we’ve been waiting for what feels like forever, and now that it’s at touching distance the excitement is rising and rising.

Now that you know what to expect, what’s one thing that you want to make sure you remember and take away from this experience?

One thing that I really want to make sure that I do is that I enjoy the moment of being out there competing at the Olympics, I don’t want to forget what it feels like to walk out to the Olympic Stadium, because it’s such a big moment, it’s the moment we spend all these years working for. And so, I want to soak up and enjoy the moment of being there, yes, it’s going to be an empty stadium, but it’s still going to be an Olympic stadium. It doesn’t mean any less that there are no people there, it’s going to be a completely unique game. 

My Mum’s told me, when I’m out there to think about them, they’re all going to have a party at home with my family, even though it’s going to be 2-3am there, she told me when you’re out there to think of us, we’ll all be at home cheering you on.

And I will, because the first thing I normally do when I come out into the Olympic stadium is look for my family, it’s instinct for me now, so the first thing I will do is think of them.

The pandemic created challenges when it came to training and preparation for the Games, can you speak a little about what you went through?

I didn’t see my coach for 14 months, so I’d say that was my biggest challenge. I didn’t have eyes on me from my own coach for over a year, because he’s based in America and I’m from the UK and I couldn’t get over there and so had to train completely alone, when I’m used to training in a group of 25. But it taught me a lot about myself, it taught me a lot about self-motivation and how much I’m capable of on my own and how much I really want to do this.

It must have been more difficult to motivate yourself being alone, after what you’ve been used to?

It really was, somedays it was so hard I wouldn’t get my session done until 8pm or 9pm, I eventually would just have to drag myself to do it. But I always went, I never missed a session it might have taken me all day, but I always ended up doing it. Because ultimately if I don’t, then it’s only me who loses. And I know that I want this, and I know what my goals are, and so I’ve always been able to find it in myself to do it.

I realized though, it’s less an issue of motivation and more of discipline because there were many times where I had zero motivation whatsoever, I was purely relying on the discipline that I had built over the years of being an athlete to get me out there and do the sessions. But it was hard.

Aside from your coaches and fellow athletes, can you talk about your personal support system?

My boyfriend, he encouraged me all the way through even when we couldn’t see each other during lockdown for several months. I was completely on my own for the lockdowns and so to know that I had him in my corner, encouraging me all the way through meant so much, and really meant that I was ultimately able to make this team. It makes a really big difference when you know that there are people who believe in you.

How has inclusivity in your sport helped you to excel?

What’s great about athletics is that you don’t get to watch men’s athletics or women’s athletics, you just watch track and field. We’re all out there competing at the same time and so the fact that women are on at the same time as men means that people don’t have a choice, you don’t get to like men’s athletics separately you just become a fan of the sport. More so than a lot of other sports we still have ways to go, but in a lot of way we have a lot of gender and inclusivity in athletics.

I have a training group with both men and women, and everyone is brilliant, it’s a real privilege to train with the people that I train with. 

As we see more and more athletes take a stance on a global platform, do you believe that sport can become a positive force for change?

Sport is a great vehicle for change, it gives people a platform. People need to remember that athletes aren’t just athletes, they’re people as well and they believe in things too. And so, I think that athletes should be able to protest in a way that they feel appropriate, speak up about matters that are important to them.

I also think that because by default, athletes often end up as role models to the next generation, that if we have positive change to make, we can make a difference.

Finally, what advice do you have for the next gen and future track and field athletes that are in the making?  

Follow whatever it is that you love, don’t do it because somebody has told you to, take up as many things as you believe you can fit in, and squeeze one more thing in. You can do more than you think you can. People will try and tell you that you must choose one thing, it’s not true, there’s many options for you, take them all.