Namita Nayyar:
Who has been your greatest influence and motivator in your success in the field of your career? Quote, you live by.
Non Stanford:
My mum has always been a big influence on my sporting ambition and career. She herself was involved in Gymnastics to a high level, which always inspired me to pursue my own sporting dream. From a young age both her and my dad supported and encouraged me in whatever sport I tried, and sacrificed so much of their own time and life to allow me the opportunities I needed to succeed.
I’m definitely someone who has feared failure over the years, so a quote I often use to rise above that fear and stay calm on big occasions is “What if I fall? Oh but darling, what if you fly?” It reminds me to be brave, to take risks that sometimes scare me, because the rewards normally outweigh the consequences.
Namita Nayyar:
In the current pandemic situation, how do you keep yourself busy while staying at home?
Non Stanford:
I’m very fortunate to be currently based in Australia where the situation is much better than other places around the world. Our training hasn’t been that restricted so I haven’t actually had too much time sitting at home getting bored. We can run and ride as normal, and as we live 200m from the beach, we’ve been able to swim in the ocean on a daily basis. If I’d have been at my home in the UK I think I would have fully redecorated and landscaped the garden by now though; every time I’m there I always wish I had more time to do those things.
Namita Nayyar:
You have captained Team Wales at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games; share a memorable experience a captain?
Non Stanford:
It’s hard to pick just one. Captaining the whole of Team Wales was just an incredible and very humbling experience. I was so honoured to have been asked and I would definitely rank it as one of my proudest moments as an athlete.
Stand out moments include getting an access all events pass so that I could jump from event to event cheering on my team in all the various sports. I was lucky my own event was on the first day of the Games so that I could properly support the team for the next 2 weeks. I think that was harder than any 2 week training block I’ve ever done though; don’t under estimate the life of a spectator!
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