Liverpool track world champion Anyika Onuora has revealed her Olympic bronze hopes were almost dashed and how her talent was recognised from a very young age.
“I knew I was talented, probably from primary school. So I went out and my PE teachers were very supportive. I got scouted on a sports day.
“The local coaches at Liverpool Harriers who saw me and was just amazed by my talent and was like, yeah come down to the track and join the club, Liverpool Harriers, and then the next day I did and then the rest is history.”
Onuora, who officially retired in 2019, says her proudest achievement is her bronze medal at the Rio Olympics with the 4x400m event,
“Probably the Olympic medal I won in 2016, just being there on what I went through physically and emotionally that year. I suffered from malaria ten months before I got the Olympic medal.
“I’d been to three Olympics at that point. I didn’t know if I was going to make the fourth one. I didn’t know what was going to happen in four years.
“So it was really, really exciting time for me and the girls on the team. And yeah, we came away with the bronze medal. And it was one of the happiest moments I’ve ever had in the sport.”
Since retiring Anyika has released a book called ‘My Hidden Race’ which goes through her life, career and the struggles that the athlete faced growing up in Merseyside.
The former Liverpool John Moores graduate, spoke to MerseySportLive about her career and how she felt was always destined for the top.
