In need of inspiration with the Olympic clock ticking

said it was one of the hardest things he had done.

This is the very same rock face that had us on the edge of our seats as we watched Alex Honnold free solo up it in the movie Free Solo. His climb has been defined as possibly one of the greatest sporting achievements in our life time.

I was blown away by Honnold’s psychological approach to this challenge. I was as intrigued about his mental approach than the physical task itself as it made me think about how we deal with fear and the anxiety around uncertainty.

This is something that I would say is one of my biggest challenges now, the fear around uncertainty. It’s not the tumour but the spinal cord injury that’s left me with this fear, so it’s a daily challenge to overcome this or become a prisoner of my own body and home.

As I think back to the day I left for Jamaica, I couldn’t even walk through the airport. I was sat in a wheelchair being pushed to the plane, and at one point I referred to myself as a patient. It reminded me that although I bare scars on my neck, the biggest scars are the ones you can’t see.

As Tokyo approaches fast my place on the GB team will come under pressure, so I need to stop having tumours and start competing. All I want is one fair shot at training and racing without surgery. Since coming into the sport I have never had a full winter and summer to really test myself, so now I pray with radiation over this will be my chance.

Unfortunately I only have 11 months to turn myself into a medalwinning athlete.

Read David’s columns as he goes about his recovery in Sport every Saturday