Laurean Rowels - Adidas - JAAQ JR
Laurean Rowels - Adidas - JAAQ JR...
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Who are you?
Hi, I'm Lauren Rouse, two-time Paralympic gold medalist world and European champion in the sport of Rowan. Come and ask me a question about anything to do with disability, mental health, or Paralympic sport, or be an L-G-B-T-Q as well.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
When I grew up, I wanted to become an Olympian. And it sounds very cliche considering that that's my job now, but I did. I watched Beijing 2008 before probably most of you listening to this were born Olympic games, and I wanted to be a runner at the Olympic Games. And I wrote it in my diary when I was a young kid in very poor spelling and handwriting in my high school musical diary that I wanted to be this runner at the Olympics. And I genuinely believed that I could run faster than most of the kids at school and all of my mates. And I remember just this feeling of being like, I was going to be this amazing Olympian one day. And I think that was the most incredible part about it, is that if you have that feeling inside of you, like you are destined for something special, don't let anybody tell you that you can't do it, because you absolutely can. Because sat here today with two gold medals around my neck because I believed that I could when I was a kid.
How was it representing your country for the first time so young?
Representing Great Britain for the very first time was such a wild experience. I remember my first vest that I got to put on for Team England at the age of 16 at the Commonwealth Games. And I remember going out into the stadium and full of roaring fans, like tens of thousands of people. And I just remember the noise, and I remember just this electric feeling that went through me. And I just remember feeling in that instant, just like, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. It was just a buzz that I'd never felt before and a moment that I'd imagined since I was just a little kid. I wanted to be an Olympian growing up. And so to have that moment, my first GB vest, that first moment in the spotlight, and to feel the fans, everybody looking at you in that one moment, it was so electrifying and everything I'd ever dreamed of.