To celebrate Black History Month, Sky Sports News brought together 2008 Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu and rising star Amber Anning to discuss the theme of Reclaiming Narratives and reflect on their journeys.
Brighton-born sprinter Anning made a big impression at the Paris Olympics, leaving with two bronze medals, which she won as part of the 4x400m relay teams in the women’s and mixed events. Her fifth-placed finish in the 400m final in a time of 49.29 seconds saw her eclipse Ohuruogu’s British record, which had stood for 11 years.
“Unbelievable!” was how Anning described her achievements to her hero and mentor Ohuruogu at the London Stadium, the site of the 2012 Olympics.
“I’ve had time to reflect now on what I accomplished, I’m kind of immensely proud of myself,” she added.
“I went there with open arms, open expectations for myself just trying to enjoy it and not put too much pressure on the moment. I know it is the Olympics, but I didn’t want to make it bigger than it is. But to come away with three national records and two medals. Wow!”
Ohuruogu knows what it is like to be the toast of British athletics. Now 40, she took Olympic gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and followed that up with silver at her home Olympics in London four years later.
Looking back on her sporting career, Ohuruogu recalls a decisive moment in her journey to Olympic glory.
She said: “A pivotal moment for me, which may surprise most people, was a bronze medal win at the junior championships in Finland. That made me because I had only just made it into the final as the second-fastest loser.
“They put me in lane one. I was absolutely terrified, but I remember just thinking ‘ok I’ve got lane one, I’m the slowest in the field but I’ve got just as good a chance as everyone else’. That really spurred me on.
“Even though I was the slowest I came back with a bronze medal. That race kicked in my understanding of how powerful we are as long as we choose to believe that we can do something in the space that we’ve got.”
“How does it feel as a Black woman competing in the sport?” she asks Anning. “Do you feel that anything has changed, improved, or got worse?”
“Having athletes like you, I think is really empowering, really inspiring,” Anning replied. “But it also comes with its challenges. In every aspect of the sport, like the coaching, we can do a better job but it’s nice that we are pushing back the barriers and seeing Black women at the top but it’s not easy. Just getting us into these spaces I feel is really important, having our voices heard and having our needs met, it’s important that people understand it on all levels.”
“I think my narrative is different depending on who I talk too,” Ohuruogu responds.
Ohuruogu retired in 2018 as a four-time Olympian with an Olympic gold, silver and two bronze medals; She was world champion twice and secured a medal at every World Championships she participated in. With Commonwealth gold and bronze medals, and a host of indoor medals she is one of the most decorated female athletes in Britain.
She added: “I think it is important that we understand that our narrative is sometimes what we think of ourselves and also what other people think of us and sometimes they are not the same thing. We all have to be cognisant of those messages and images that we put out there of ourselves because it might not be what we think it is or what we think it should be.
“And I did suffer from that a lot I think in my career. I always had a negative perception of myself because I thought that’s what other people thought of me. I think that did a lot of damage, so I think it really is important how you see yourself but also have a realistic view of what other people think of you, so you don’t sell yourself short.”
Ohuruogu was awarded an MBE in the 2009 New Year Honours for her services to sport. She grew up in Stratford close to the site of the London Olympics and her early experiences of sport came with her family in local parks.
For Anning, like many British athletes before her, being part of the American ‘NCAA’ college system has helped her to improve on the track and given her new experiences.
“You train in the States, how do you find that compares to being in the UK in terms of having ethnic coaches in the sport?” Ohuruogu asks the south coast native.
Anning said: “I do find in America there is more freedom to be yourself. I felt like I could just go out there and do what I wanted to do.
“It was less judgmental, and I have more of a voice. I also feel that the athletes over there and the people I’m around are … I wouldn’t say bigger personalities, but they are unapologetically themselves. They are not afraid of anything. Whereas in England we have to be always careful about how we present ourselves.”
Ohuruogu asks: “How do you think we could improve based on what you’ve said?”
“People need to use their platform more and just be their authentic self. The media is such a great platform. Maybe it was something you guys where not able to utilise back in the day, but right now with this generation we love to share our story,” said Anning.
Before the Paris Olympics, Anning had been running in NCAA competition with Arkansas Razorbacks. One of her biggest moments came when she beat Katharine Merry’s 25-year-old British indoor record for the 200m in January with a time of 22.60 seconds.
The new British record holder is not just sharing her story on the track, she recently also appeared in a TikTok advert for the launch of a new Victoria Secrets store in London.
For Ohuruogu the world of TikTok and social media is a different era from when she competed. The former Newham and Essex Beagles club member only took up athletics in 2001 in a bid to boost her netball skills, and looked back fondly at her career.
“Four years is a long time and between my Olympic cycles there was a lot going on,” Ohuruogu said.
“You have to have a genuine love for what you are doing and a genuine passion and genuine heart. Sport isn’t easy. We are relying on our bodies to work every day and sometimes it just doesn’t, things don’t work as they are supposed to.
“A lot can happen that can throw you off your path. But I enjoyed training, I’m not just saying that because I’m looking back with rose-tinted glasses. I loved what I did, I love the fact that I was an athlete, I love the fact that I had the opportunity to push myself and to challenge myself every day and to keep working.
“I love that things didn’t come easy; I love that I wasn’t always the quickest in the field because that really forced me to believe in myself. Those things helped me become the person that I am and without them I would be a very different person now. It’s been a real pleasure to have the life that I’ve had in the sport.”
So, no regrets from Ohuruogu whose sister competed in Paris and won a bronze alongside Anning. But if she could change anything it would be the way she was portrayed in the media.
“What I do wish I could have got involved in is the fact that you have your own voice, you have your platform, you’re very good at social media and you’re able to be your own personality,” she told Anning.
“For us we had to rely on a newspaper speaking for us and if they wrote something you didn’t like, you couldn’t fight against it. You really couldn’t.
“Now you can be your own person, you can say what you want, you can wear what you like. You can speak about who you are, in a way that we were never able to do.”
Reflecting on an amazing year and looking forward to the future, Anning insists we have not seen her at her best. She finished fifth in a competitive 400m final in Paris and hopes to keep on improving before the LA Olympics in 2028.
“I have high expectation of myself, the 400m final was incredible to be in that historic field amongst those athletes and for all of us to run sub-50 seconds, even the times outside the top three was incredibly fast,” she said.
“But I feel there is so much more work to do, so I’m really excited to go back to the lab and speak to my coach and kind of tweak some stuff in terms of my training and preparation.
“I feel that I wasn’t at my best, so I am very excited to just get going again and just push myself even more.”
What Anning really wants in Los Angeles is what Ohuruogu achieved in 2008. An Olympic gold. Her story is yet to be written. Her narrative yet to be defined. And she knows it.