Relative success: when sporting greatness runs in the family
Many of the most successful athletes were inspired at the start of their journeys by the achievements of parents and grandparents. Here they tell their stories
Long jump
For me, Mum has always been my mum really, not Fiona May the athlete [a former long jump world champion and two-time Olympic silver medallist], and it is still like that today. When I was a child and used to go out with her and my dad, I realised her fame because of how other people treated her, but I have never seen her any differently.
She has always served as a motivation point for me, as I know comparisons will end only when I have won more than her, and she will be happy about that.
So far I have brought one world
TANNI GREY-THOMPSON & ALEC GREY Para-racing & motorcycling
My paternal grandfather, Alec Grey, raced in TT motorcycling in the 1930s, and apparently was an incredible bike mechanic too.
Unfortunately, I don’t know a lot about his career as he was forced to give it up. My great-grandfather decided it wasn’t a proper job and stopped him competing at some point between the wars. His dad just said: “That’s it, you’re not messing about with this any more.”
The sad thing was, he was genuinely really, really talented. I remember being quite young, and going to a garage close to where we live and the mechanic spoke to my dad and I about my grandad, saying he was absolutely incredible. My grandfather never talked about it, but I think he was quite bitter about it.
He hid all his trophies away and it was only through other people that I learnt about his sporting passion – we found all the cups and trophies after he died, and somebody had drawn a pencil drawing of him, racing on a bike with a sidecar. My dad donated them to the Pendine Museum of Speed.
But the influence of my grandfather’s miserable experience meant that my dad massively encouraged me to do sport and activity. He always said: “You’ve got to do something you care about and I’ll never stop you doing something.”
I remember during my record to the family – the world indoor under-20 record of 6.91 metres. Let’s see what else I can do in the future, because
I do believe that the best is yet to come.
My mum is helping me, as is my father, to mentally face the pressure of competition, and she gives me advice in a discreet way. Both of my parents let me decide my own path and give me autonomy over my decisions. I appreciate their attitude because it allows me to grow in a free way. Larissa Iapichino was talking to Ben Bloom career in athletics, one occasion when everyone told me I was crazy, because
I wanted to race four times in one week across the world: in
Toronto,
Lausanne,
Aarhus in
Denmark, and then Atlanta, Georgia.
I said: “Dad, do you think it’s a stupid idea?” And he was like, “Yeah, of course I think it’s stupid – but do it if you want to do it.”
I think just because of how restricted an experience my grandad had had in sport, it turned my family the other way, and they were massively encouraging.
Baroness Tanni Grey-thompson was talking to Molly Mcelwee
GAIL EMMS & JAN EMMS Badminton & football
I don’t think I can ever remember not knowing that my mum was good at sport. She has always been relentless, a 5ft 1in ball of energy; I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I have seen her wearing something other than tracksuit and trainers. Even now, people come up to me and say: “I just saw your mum out running.” She is the whirlwind of Bedford.
Growing up, I just assumed all mums were like that. She had been a really good footballer but had given up before I was born. She went to the Women’s World Cup in 1971 with the England team, played in front of 90,000 people in Mexico City, then when she came home she got banned for two years by the Football Association for participating in a tournament it didn’t recognise. She was so hurt, she packed it in.
Her experiences definitely coloured her attitude to the game. Although she realised I was mad for sport from an early age, she didn’t do anything to steer me into football. The opposite, actually. She’d got so much abuse when she was playing, even in a kickaround in the park, all that misogynistic nonsense: “What you doing, love, get back in the kitchen.”
It makes me angry just thinking about the c--p she suffered just for being good at something she loved. And she didn’t want me to go through all that.
In truth, I don’t feel I missed out. For a start I don’t know if I would have been any good. Every physio tells me I’ve got footballer’s legs, but even at 68 she’s still better than me at the game; she can do way more keepy-uppies than I can.
She was a good badminton player and she noticed when I was about six that I had something. And she wanted to encourage me. But her way of doing it was interesting
SOPHIE DE GOEDE, STEPHANIE WHITE & HANS DE GOEDE Rugby Union
As the daughter of two Canadian rugby legends, I really lucked out on the gene pool. My mum, Stephanie, captained the first Canada women’s side and led the team at two World Cups over a 10-year career. My dad, Hans, played internationally for 13 years and captained Canada at the inaugural World Cup in 1987. Both have since been inducted into the Rugby Canada Hall of Fame. My two brothers also played, with one of them, Thyssen, also
Head start: Both Sophie de Goede’s parents played rugby for Canada
to say the least. The first time she played me she absolutely thrashed me. There was no nicety, no giving me a chance, she just whacked me. She says she understood my personality. And beating me was her way of encouraging me. She was never pushy, never the psycho touchline parent. She just knew how to get competitiveness out in the right way. The first time I beat her is etched on my memory. It took me five years of determined practice. I was 12 and I was so excited I couldn’t stop screaming. Mind you, she was gutted. She threw away her racket, stormed off and sulked. I know where I get it from. The only time she has played me since was when I was eight months’ pregnant, when she knew I couldn’t get to the drop shots. But representing the national team. I was always told growing up that I had legendary rugby lineage, but it didn’t really register with me until I was older. I distinctly remember looking through some old photographs and rugby memorabilia from mum’s career during my early teens, including a leaflet from the first game she played for Canada against the United States in 1987. There was also a player review that had been filled out by the national team coach. It was glowing about all my mum’s strengths, how she was one of the best female flankers in the world at a time when the women’s game was very much in its infancy.
In my family, we joke that she’s a pioneer – she hates us using the term because she says it makes her feel old. But in my eyes, she’s a true trailblazer.
What’s really inspiring is that my mum has stayed involved in the game. Since retiring in 1997, she’s sat on the board of directors at Rugby Canada and headed up our
there is no doubt she made me the competitor I was.
In her football career, she always wanted to prove people wrong. And she made sure I had that in me. I grew up playing against boys, I had no fear, she taught me if you want to achieve you have to be stubborn. I learnt from her that there will be obstacles in your way constantly and the best way round them is to plough straight over the top. I think I was blessed to have my mum. It’s so important to have close role models.
My boys are both mad for football and want to be Harry Kane. That’s easy. Sadly there aren’t as many women to look up to. It’s so important for girls to have emotional role models.
These days my mum is an amazing coach for my sons. When we have games, I get stuck in goal and my mum’s out there doing tricks, trying to beat my boys. Some things will never change. national women’s team fund, which has successfully eliminated female players having to pay to play. She also presented me with my first Canada jersey in 2016, which was a really special moment.
Both my parents had retired by the time I was born, although I’ve seen footage of them playing. I feel so lucky, because most women around the world don’t get exposure to rugby until adulthood, but I got a 10-year head start! Growing up, we were forever watching old Test matches that my parents recorded and Saturdays were reserved for rugby down at my local club in Victoria, British Columbia.
My dad played before rugby turned professional which, along with my mum’s achievements, also keeps me grounded as an athlete. It’s humbling to be treading their paths in an era where the women’s game could also turn professional in my playing career.