Hazel-nut - Louise Hazel Commonwealth Heptathlon Champ

Hair dying, chest beating and hairy legs, it's all in this episode as I speak to Louise Hazel 2010 Commonwealth Heptathlon champion. One thing that stands out to me about this episode is the fact that Louise had a bit of a frustrating weekend in competition but she got fully engaged in the conversation right from the start, a true professional.

I get her thoughts on 'stress in sport' and was intrigued to hear about she personally deals with pressure in her sport. Sometimes as onlookers and non-athletes, like myself, we can forget the immense pressure that is put upon such athletes like Louise. Sometimes that pressure comes from external sources and often, unsurprisingly, from within the athlete themselves, as they strive to be the best.

To Do Lists and Poetry

Louise gets quizzed about her "Single girls to do list" and we discover some interesting things that appear on it. I challenged her to give me an outrageous one but she declined. I pushed her to name one when 'off air' but we didn't manage that - Louise, I'm still waiting! ;-)

Louise also writes poetry, which she has published on her website and I was keen to learn how this influences her mindset in her personal and sporting life! Keep your ears open for her response. She said there was a very deep poem that she was set to release...Louise, as of May 2012, we're still waiting ;-)

What's the BrainDrain question I posed for her? Louise, if you're reading this, I'm not accusing you of cheating but was there a bit of Googling going on there??? ;-)

An interesting interview, from an athlete who is still motivated and driven towards success. I found her to be open, fun and well, yes, cute in her mannerisms too. Maybe she'll come back on the show on another occasion to give us a brief update on her season!!