By @Lucy_Roberts_72
Team GB sprinter and advocate for LGBT equality in sport - Corinne Humphreys, is hoping to compete at her first Olympic games this summer.
Ex-Belt ambassador Corinne Humphreys
Although her training had to be adapted due to the Covid-19 delay of the events in Tokyo, that hasn’t fazed the Ex-Belt ambassador, she’s more determined than ever to represent her country in such a prestigious tournament.
However, due to the inability of overseas spectators going to the stadiums and arenas in Japan this year, Humphreys expressed her disappointment and said it just won’t be the same.
As well as explaining how she keeps herself motivated, the 29-year-old also spoke about how Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign is helping to end stigma and achieve equality in sport for the LGBT community.
Q) Was your career always going to be centred around sport given you used to play basketball and football before you turned to sprinting?
A) To be honest, no. Not necessarily actually. I’ve always played sport competitively, not necessarily at a national or international level, but I’ve always played sports. In 2012 when I had just come out of the junior ranks in athletics, and I had a bit of time there which wasn’t the best - I went into the music scene and I joined a band which we started to form around London and at the time I almost could have been a musician but then I just went straight back into sports. But no, my career wasn’t always centred around sports. My sprinting was always the one that I was better at, so naturally I gravitated to that.
Q) How does it feel to represent Great Britain in events such as the Commonwealth Games?
A) At competitions I did for Great Britain it’s always an honour to represent your country, but it does come with a lot of pressure, I think when I got my first couple of vests. But by the time I reached the Commonwealth Games I feel like I had really come into my own a bit more and so I just enjoyed the whole experience. It feels good to know that you’re the representative for your country and you just always want to put your best foot forward.
Q) How hopeful are you that the Tokyo Olympics will go ahead this year?
A) I think it will go ahead. Just seeing the athletics take place, the Indoor European Championships, seeing that take place at the weekend, I think that has really opened the doors for athletics to start to go ahead a lot more. I don’t think it’ll the look the way it would have done had there not been Covid, but I feel like there will be very limited spectators. But yeah, I think it is going to go ahead, yeah I do.
Q) Reports in the last few hours have revealed that officials in Tokyo have said that spectators won’t be allowed to watch the Olympics in stadiums and arenas, how do you feel about this?
A) Oh. Oh no. That’s going to be very different. Very, very different I would think. I mean when you asked me how does it feel to represent your country I think some of that feeling is when you’re in the stadium and you’re hearing people cheering. You can really feel spectators and fans support. Not having that at the pinnacle track and field event is going to be very different.
Q) If the Olympics weren’t to go ahead this year, do you think they should be postponed again until next year or should we just wait for the 2024 Olympics? And what would that mean for athletes whose training has led up to this?
A) I think whether it be 2022 or 2024 the preparation that has been going on since 2016 really has kind of been shifted already so if they had to be postponed to next year, I think people would still have to make the necessary changes they have been doing because of Covid and at this point it really is who can train the smartest and who can really be the most creative. So, whether it is 2022 or 2024, the way we’ve approached that level of sport would have to change.
Q) How have you been able to keep on top of your training throughout the multiple lockdowns we have had?
A) Being very creative. I think that’s where the Ex-Belt really helped my training. I had a foot surgery at the end of 2019. When I was coming out of the cast and getting into rehab that’s when Covid hit. So, there was a lot of equipment that I needed that was at the track but unfortunately, I couldn’t get to the track so I knew that we had to be very creative of how we approached training and because where I was at in my rehab it was very imperative that I kept everything else moving because my legs weren’t where I would have wanted them to be. The way I approached it was that I just got creative and having the Ex-Belt really allowed me to focus on being intense in my arms which is something I always had issues with. And I just replayed my race model over and over again in my head, so I did a lot of running in my mind and with other parts of my body that emulated what you would do on the track.
Q) What advice would you give to people who want to keep fit but lack the motivation, especially at the moment with gyms being closed?
A) I think it’s a very good time and it has been for me. My advice would be to start to approach your fitness from the inside out. I think so many of us have seen the gym as gym equals fitness when that is not necessarily the case, even with me. Sometimes you would think the track equals the only way you can train to be fast for being a sprinter and it isn’t necessarily the case. I’ve actually been working with some people during lockdown to keep them into fitness and allow them to embed fitness into their life, as life is right now but also trying to get them to think “how can I stay motivated?” Break down in your day-to-day life before Covid, what has been in the way that’s been keeping you from keeping fitness consistent. What have been the factors that have given you that motivation? So just as with myself I’ve really looked inward to see how can I better myself in this situation. Because a lot has been taken away and you’re just down to the bare bones of things. I think it’s just about really breaking things down, taking it step by step but utilising everything else you have around you and not just thinking gym equals fitness. You can start to run, you can stretch, you can do home workouts. All of that contributes to being fit. And coming out of lockdown as gyms start to open I think people that have taken that approach, like really getting to know their body and how they can use their body to make themselves fit, they’re going to feel that their journey through the gym is going to be so much further along than what it would have been if they only just relied on gym based fitness.
Q) As an advocate for LGBT equality in sport, what do you think needs to be done to achieve that goal?
A) I think we’re doing it now actually. Having a lot of support in different sports for the LGBT community and different networks that are popping up. And just having known allies in other people that aren’t necessarily part of the LGBT community, but people that support people that are a part of the community and they believe that everyone should be included in sport in some way, shape or form. I think people just standing up for the community and just being allies and making it comfortable for sport to be everyone’s game.
Q) Have you ever been subject to homophobia whilst you’ve been competing or training?
A) I’ve been one of the lucky ones to be honest. I’ve never experienced any kind of homophobia. A lot of my negative experiences came from within and what my perception of what people would think of me, that’s where a lot of my stuff came from. But luckily, I have never been subject to any kind of homophobia.
Q) Do you think Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign is helping achieve LGBT equality in sport and is helping end the stigma around the LGBT community?
A) Absolutely, they’ve done such a great thing in sports like football where there was clear homophobia at times and the campaign has gone into just everyone wearing rainbow laces and it marks solidarity. When you see the laces - from a mile off you can see, first of all, if you’re part of the LGBT community people can feel like they’re in a safe space and if there are people who are homophobic and are ones that like to use slurs and whatnot, it kind of shows them that this is not a place where this is tolerated so think twice about coming with that type of behaviour around here. And that’s why I really like the campaign because sometimes it’s even hard to navigate, even just language in the LGBT community because even people who are allies, sometimes they don’t know how to approach the situation or what they can personally do to make sport as inclusive as possible. But I think something as simple as seeing a lace, it says so much without offending and without people having to have conversations some people may not be ready to have but it is feelings they feel within. It just does a lot without saying too much.
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