Maya Bewley It’s not everyday that you get to speak to a Gold medal Olympian. That’s why when Yorkshire triathlete Alistair Brownlee was made an honorary graduate, we jumped at the chance to talk to him!
Ahead of our annual Challenge Week to raise money for our sports societies at York, we spoke to Alistair all about his incredible career, his advice for recent graduates – and of course, why access to sport at University is so important.
Hi Alistair! It’s such a pleasure to meet you. Firstly, you’ve been called many things in your career – including the greatest Olympic triathlete of all time – but in your own words, what is your proudest achievement?
“My proudest achievement is winning two Olympic gold medals.
It doesn’t get any better than that!
Well you could win three or four, I guess.
Image: Jim Thurston
You studied Sports Science at Leeds while you were embarking on your career. So I’m just wondering how you balanced your love of sport with studying?
Sport has been a big part of my life since I was, I think, probably eight years old and throughout my teenage years. I had a big decision to make when I was 18, and that was when I really decided to focus on what I wanted to do. Maybe studying took a bit of a back seat at that point.
I was training in Leeds at the time, day in, day out. I was traveling and racing all over the world, and it was amazing that the university helped me to fit in the studies between that (and of course, it was something I was interested in!).
Of course, a lot of our alumni have fond memories of being part of a sports club at York. What do you think it is that makes sport so important to students and young people?
I think sport is really important for all young people, and especially when you come into a new environment like university. It can be a life skill, if it’s like swimming or riding a bike. I’m all too aware of that with the work we do with the Brownlee foundation, where I’ve seen many young people that can’t swim.
Running and cycling for me have been most of my social life and for much of my career. It’s probably never more important than at university to find peers that you get on with, that you have shared interests with.
Then there’s the mental aspect – I’m absolutely convinced that sport is so important for all of our mental health, well being, and our ability to focus on other things, whether that’s your academics, your friends around you, or arts, or whatever it might be.
Image: Angel Arcones
Every year our sports societies come together to raise money for their teams in a week called ‘Challenge Week’, ahead of our annual battle of the Roses against Lancaster. Why do you think it’s important that people have access to sports?
There’s lots of barriers to sport, especially for young people, and financial barriers are a big one of those. So it’s important that we find all the ways we possibly can to remove those barriers, to help as many people as possible do as much sport as possible. Organizing a fun fundraising week is a great idea!
It’s probably not a patch on the Olympics, but how does it feel being an honorary graduate here at York?
I think my highlight of being an honorary graduate is getting to meet, talk to, and even attempt to give some advice to young people. Kind of strangely I’m in a similar position to a lot of people who’ve just graduated. I’ve just retired from a career in sport and I’m wondering what to do, and trying to find a kind of new goal and passion. So I’m reflecting on that a bit.
I feel my contribution has been in sport, but I’m also proud of my contribution outside sport – of encouraging young people to be active, encouraging the importance of sport and wellbeing in everyone’s lives, and hopefully being an inspiration to a few young people as well.
On that note, have you got any advice for our new graduates, or perhaps just any of our alumni who are starting a new chapter in their lives?
I was very lucky in my life to find something that I was passionate about at a young age. I was also very lucky to have a very supportive family that encouraged and helped me to chase those dreams and fulfill my passion.
To people out there who maybe aren’t sure I just take every opportunity you can, walk through every open door and throw yourself into everything that you possibly can and make the most of opportunities.
The more things you try, the more you’re likely to find something that you know inspires you to get out of bed every morning.
I think it’s important to have a dream and a goal in life, and I think everything in life that is worth doing requires some form of hard work and dedication over a period of time.
But the real kind of joy and satisfaction shouldn’t come from the end result, but from the process and the hard work along the way.”
“The real kind of joy and satisfaction shouldn’t come from the end result, but from the process and the hard work along the way.”
From Saturday 8 March to Sunday 16 March, York students are coming together to raise money for their sports teams. Whether it’s funding for coaching, reducing membership costs, getting specialist equipment or funding transport to competitions – they’re taking on some crazy challenges to do it!
From Archery to Netball, to Hockey, Cheerleading and more – take a look at what each club is raising money for and get involved by heading to the Challenge Week website.
