US Girls Rocks Festival

On Thursday 1st November I attended the Us Girls Rocks festival in London. It was a free festival aimed at getting women together and having fun taking part in sport and activity. As ambassador of the charity StreetGames I was asked to get as many women and girls aged 16+ to have a go at fencing. There were a range of activities on offer including badminton, basketball, boxing, cricket, skipping class, table tennis and zumba. It was a fantastic day out and I was so pleased to see so many young girls have fun and get involved in sport.

After teaching the girls some fencing basics they got stuck in and really went for it. For most, it was their first time fencing and they were surprised at how much harder it was in reality to what they had seen on TV. Everybody got a bit of a sweat on and had fun doing it.

Olympic boxing champion Nicola Adams also popped in to the event to join in the fun and help inspire the girls. She spoke of what it takes to become the first woman ever to win an Olympic boxing title and how her life has changed since winning gold. Becoming an Olympic champion changes your life forever and Nicola deserves every bit of her success.

I was able to challenge Nicola to a fencing match and I can tell you that she has seriously fast feet. We both agreed that boxing and fencing share many similarities. Still, I was glad I was fencing her and not facing her in the ring!

Nicola has transformed the face of women’s boxing forever. Her skill set and demeanor forced non-supporters of women’s boxing to question their mindset. She is a wonderful role model for women in sport, and she has changed the stereotype of boxing as a brutal, male-dominated sport with her big smile and positive attitude.

The London 2012 Olympic Games was a fantastic opportunity for women in sport. The results the women achieved at London 2012 and the media coverage that they received was extremely positive. The more successes there are like Nicola Adams, Jess Ennis, Jade Jones and Laura Trott; the more young girls will want to emulate their role models. Women have a very important role to play in sport, just as the men do. It is ridiculous now to think that there were no female athletes nominated for the Sports personality of the Year awards in 2011. That surely has to change in 2012.

Major decisions need to be taken at national and local government level and by sports administrators if there is to be an increase in young girls taking up sport. For now, our wonderful female role models like Nicola Adams and events like the US Girls Rocks festivals are doing a great job in promoting women in sport.

Let the Games begin! Thinking of all of the athletes

Can you believe that the countdown is almost over? It seems like we have been building up to this moment for so long. Finally, the Olympics have come to town and the eyes of the world are upon us.

I am certain that London will put on a great show. We are ready to show everyone what we are made of and this is an exciting period to live through. I wonder what spine-tingling, historic moments will come out of these Olympic games? All of the sports adverts and sporting documentaries that have been televised in the build up to the Games have been fantastic. They have managed to capture the real essence of what it’s like to be an elite level athlete at the top of their game. We’ve seen the relentlessness of training and competition, the raw passion, and the sheer grit and determination required to qualify for an Olympic Games. The expression blood, sweat and tears is no joke. Athletes have to be strong in every sense of the word.

The Olympic Games are the pinnacle of any athlete’s career and while the members of Team GB will be focused on performing to their best and reaching the podium, I hope that they will take a moment to savour the occasion. It is a once in a lifetime achievement and competing in front of a home crowd will be very special.

I have been thinking quite a lot recently too about the ‘other’ athletes who did not make the team for whatever reason. There must be hundreds of British athletes who, like me, were on the tip of qualification and missed out on the honour of going to a home Olympic Games.

Many people have asked me if I am excited about the Olympics and if I will be watching the fencing. The answer is yes, but I’d be lying if I said that it hasn’t been tough. Fencing and qualifying for the Olympic Games has literally been the centre of my existence since leaving university four years ago. The intensive training, travelling and competing had taken over my life, almost to the exclusion of everything else, which most people would consider to be a normal part of life. So the thought of watching the Games without being involved in them, is hard. There’s no doubt about that.

I have had some time now to reflect on missing out on the Team and what has kept me going is the knowledge that this experience has toughened me and ultimately, has made me a stronger person. I stood for something I believed in and pushed my body and mind to the limit in order to achieve my goal.

Sometimes you have to accept defeat, but it is how you react to that and move on from that which defines you as a person. Disappointment can allow you to reassess your priorities and your goals. It strengthens your character.

So while I’ll be cheering on our Great Britain Olympic team this summer, I’ll also be sparing a thought for all those ‘other’ athletes who nearly made it. Let’s enjoy it. We deserve it.

I am proud to be the official Fencing expert for the Guardian over the Olympic Games. Watch out for my fencing and Olympic related tweets on @CBennettGBR. I’ll also be commentating on Eurosport this Sunday 29th July.

End of the road, London 2012

You may have heard the news today of the selection of the British Olympic fencing team. Unfortunately I have to confirm that I have not been selected to represent Team GB at the London Olympic Games.

The hardest part of all is telling your friends, family and support team that you have not made it.

I have had such great support from so many of you in this four-year Olympic cycle, and I wish I could give you better news.

Despite this huge disappointment, I have enjoyed the journey, and all of the hard work and sacrifice has been worth it. I have learnt so much about myself, and what it takes to be the best at elite level.

I have dreamt of going to the Olympics ever since I was a little girl but I have felt some peace in the knowledge that at all times I gave it 100%. I tried my absolute hardest, and there can be no regrets.

I am writing this blog really, as a big thank-you to my sponsors and support team, who have been so supportive and encouraging to me over the last few years. You know who you are. I will write to you all personally as soon as I can.

I always felt very lucky to have had such a great team of people around me, my family and friends included, and there is no way I could have even got this far without your backing. So thank-you, so much. 

I wish my teammates and all of the British fencers selected for the Olympic Games much luck this summer. We have trained and worked so hard for this and I genuinely hope that we get the results we deserve.