So I think it would just be interesting if there was more research, if there was a better, more natural solution that could be found. I get paid based on my performance on that day and if it’s not [great] because of a tiny pill that I’m taking, or a coil in my uterus, then that’s a problem.
Gender equality in sports for me is just having the equal opportunities to be seen.
I’m good friends with Ella Toone, the Lioness footballer, and she’s obviously in a sport that is quite far divided. One thing she said was, “We’re not asking for equal pay,” because that comes from things outside of the sport – that comes from revenue, things pulling in – but just equal opportunities to be seen. I think they’re really getting there.
I’m quite fortunate and probably quite proud to be a track event athlete, knowing that it is probably the most equal sport. It is purely on performance, men and women are shown at the exact same time and even Sebastian Coe has said there’s been times that women have carried our sport for periods of years.
So I’m quite happy, I feel like it is equal. I’ve never really seen that as a problem, but in other sports I think it probably still is. But I think, for me, it’s just having the equal seen opportunities.
I’ve always been this deaf, so I don’t know any different.
I had hearing problems growing up and we never really knew why until eventually a doctor found the reason [at 13 Keely underwent surgery for a non-cancerous tumour on the left side of her head that caused her to become deaf in one ear].
For me the biggest thing was the surgery because it [the tumour] was so near the brain I could feel it in every step that I took. I could barely walk for a month, which you think is weird because it’s in your ear, but it obviously affects your balance and things. It was six months until I could start properly maybe exercising or jumping around. It was just a long, long process.
I did try hearing aids, I didn’t like them because there was too much noise and I can still hear fine, just if you’re on this side of me [the left side] then I’m like “What? What?”. The nurse told me that I do rely on lip reading, which is quite interesting.
I don’t worry so much about hearing things around me when I’m on the starting line now. A few times when I was younger maybe the gun was a little bit quieter if you were at more low key meets. But at professional ones now the gun is loud because it’s got to be louder than the crowd. When I was younger I think a couple of times I have missed the gun or taken a step and “oh god, they’ve gone.”
If I could have a super power, I wish I had super hearing to the point that you could hear those conversations on the other side of the room. I’m nosy!
I believe that comparison is the thief of joy.
Everybody compares because it is, in a way, a human reaction, which is quite natural. But I think it’s how you manage those thoughts and emotions. So you could look at somebody else and you almost forget what you’ve got and the journey that you are on.