AN Olympic athlete who visited the Isle of Man this week has said there is correlation between sport and business.
Double award winning Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes visited the Island on Thursday as a guest of SMP Partners and The Children's Centre.
As well as holding a training session for young athletes and meeting young people at The Children's Centre headquarters, she also visited staff at SMP.
On Thursday night Kelly was the guest speaker at a fundraising dinner held at the Mount Murray Hotel and Country Club.
Kelly's dream to become an "Olympic champ" started the age of 18 after being inspired by the national Olympic team.
Despite her career being dogged by seven years of injury including rupturing her calf and tearing her Achilles tendon at the World Championships in 1997, Kelly fought back to take gold in the 800m and 1500m races at the 2004 Olympic Games.
Speaking to isleofman.com reporter Tessa Hawley, Kelly said she believes there are a lot of similarities between sport and business including that of setting goals.
She explained: "In life people need to set themselves an aspiration - a realistic target - ask questions, train and develop your skills and go for it.
"Sport and business have a lot of correlations – setting goals, targets, having a teamwork environment in terms of employees coming together to make a company the best it can be. It's the same as an individual athlete you've got all your physios and doctors, training partners and everyone else. There is a lot of correlation.
"It's having the ultimate belief that you can achieve what you are setting out to achieve. It's very easy to put yourself on an under par. Sometimes it is about taking risks and having the guts to change when you feel like 'hold on a minute I'm good at this but actually I could be better at something else'."
Kelly said she hopes that speaking out about her experiences and journey inspires other people to succeed in their goals.
She said: "You don't get taught to speak in public when you are suddenly thrust into the limelight but to be honest I don't mind it because most of the time they are asking about my story which I know inside out. I get asked to do motivational speaking where I hope that my story and elements of it will inspire other people.
"I suppose the most nerve wracking one I have ever done was at the Royal Albert Hall in front of 3,000 business people – I felt like I was going on stage and was going to race again!"
Dame Kelly Holmes will return to the Isle of Man in September when it hosts the Commonwealth Youth Games. Kelly is the President of the Commonwealth Games England and has said she hopes to be here for the opening ceremony and to "enjoy the games as a whole".
Also see: "I still get overwhelmed by Athens victory" says Dame Kelly Holmes
Dame Kelly Holmes says it is vital to get young people interested in sport
