Sport Industry Dining: Lauren Steadman
On Tuesday evening, our members convened in the heart of London at the Lighterman bar and restaurant in Granary Square, for the second of this year’s four Sport Industry Dining events.
A blissful summer’s evening comprised networking drinks, a three-course dinner, and a panel discussion with Paralympic gold medalist triathlete Lauren Steadman.
Former Team GB Olympian snowboarder Aimee Fuller hosted the session, which delved into the mindset of the reigning Paralympic champion, her preparations for Paris 2024, and the motivation to defend her title.
Steadman’s career reached new heights three years ago, when her dream of becoming a gold medalist became reality at Tokyo 2020. This came after narrowly missing out on first place at Rio 2016, where she claimed silver.
Competing in a sport as gruelling as triathlon, Steadman is no stranger to pushing herself to the physical limit. But despite already having three world and seven European titles to her name, the 31-year-old is far from done.
“When I’m 70, I’m sat on the veranda and I’m retired, I don’t want to sit there and say ‘what if I had just done this, what if I had done that,” she told Fuller.
“I really want to know – what are my limits, what are my boundaries? That could be because I have one arm, I don’t know.
“Anything that’s in front of me, I have to do it for me. I have to know that I can do it, I can overcome it.”
The reigning champion also gave an insight to her thought process during races, and how she is able to persevere in the difficult moments.
“When I’m in the depths of hell, in my head I’m like, ‘I need to feel this way, I need to push through,’” she said.
“My approach to a race is – it’s gonna hurt. It’s gonna hurt me, it’s gonna hurt the other girls in the race. Who can hurt the longest? Who can withstand that pain the longest is the person that’s going to win.”
Growing up, sport always played a pivotal role for Steadman in allowing her to fit in and overcome barriers, after being born without a right forearm.
“If you were different for whatever reason, kids just picked on you,” she said. “I was picked on pretty badly, but I happened to be pretty good at sport.
“Being the captain of the netball, hockey and rounders teams – people wanted me on their team. So I’ve always used sport as a vehicle for fitting in.”
It wasn’t until Steadman attended Mount Kelly, a boarding school in Devon, when she first decided to stop wearing a prosthetic arm, something which she has since embraced.
As a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018, Steadman competed without a prosthesis, serving as an inspiration for people with disabilities.
During the discussion on Tuesday, Steadman recalled one time when she received a letter from a 70-year-old lady who had never been in public without her prosthesis since losing her arm earlier in life, until watching Steadman on the TV show had inspired her to go to Sainsbury’s without it for the first time.
In her own words, experiences such as this reminded Steadman of the importance of sport in “helping others realise their power and their strength.”
Looking ahead to this summer’s games, the ParalympicsGB athlete is under no illusions over the competition she will face. Among her fellow competitors is Grace Norman, who has been a two-time world champion since the last edition of the Paralympics.
“I have ten other girls who will be on that start-line in Paris, and they are gunning for me. They are literally using my times and hours to base their sessions.
“If I don’t go and do it, they’re going to beat me. I will not let that happen.”
Eight weeks out from the Games, Steadman talked about her strict current routine, which includes no alcohol and early 10pm bed-times.
While her commitment to training naturally means making some sacrifices along the way, the pride of representing her country this summer takes top priority for the triathlete.
“For that moment where you are stood in your national kit, and I have this flag proudly on my shoulder, I don’t care what it took to get there. I don’t care about all the things that I may have missed, all of the hard moments,” she declared.
“My training over the next eight weeks will be specific, it will be timely, I will take no prisoners. I’m so sorry if I have no friends at the end of it, but I’ll get the job done.”
Access to Sport Industry Dining can be gained by purchasing a Sport Industry Membership. In addition, the package offers tickets to Sport Industry Socials, tickets and entries to the FEVO Sport Industry Awards, and a number of other generous discounts and benefits.
