Life on the bench

The thing is, most of the time, athletes match up pretty well with the public’s perception of them – we do go to bed early, and we sacrifice a lot of important experiences in the pursuit of legacy. When I started my sporting career I was 12 years old. It consumed my life through my teens and into my twenties, until eventually I left it behind aged 22. Throughout, I stood on the sidelines of any wildness: I watched the crazy stories unfold, I gossiped about them… but I never starred in them. I thought the emotions that might come with sex and dating would distract me from my ambitions. For 10 years, I chose to focus exclusively on my dreams, never mixing business with pleasure – but while dreams may be nocturnal animals, they don’t keep you warm at night.

As an athlete, I had an unquestionably extraordinary life, but I missed out on the moments of human connection that make ordinary life remarkable. I abstained