The Commonwealth Games is just the beginning for many athletes. For its latest campaign, The Start Line, Team England has selected a handful of rising stars who came to the fore at Birmingham 2022, looking back on their moment of success and hearing first-hand how they felt in that moment and how they hope it can set them up for future success.

Last week, Team England sat down with 21-year-old, Eden Rainbow-Cooper who earned herself a Commonwealth silver in her debut, racing in the T-54 marathon classification.

Recalling the moment, she was told she had been selected for the Commonwealth Games, Eden describes feeling an overwhelming sense of joy, ‘’It was incredible. I was not really planning on trying to get to any sort of major championship, so when I got that call, I was over the moon’’.

Despite having only competed in one marathon prior to her selection for Birmingham, Eden acknowledges the pivotal role the Games played in shaping her continued passion for the discipline.

Reflecting on the moment she won her first Commonwealth medal, Eden shares: ‘’Winning the silver medal at Birmingham was amazing, one of the best moments of my life…to come away with a silver medal was more than what we’d hoped for and felt like a dream for a long time after’’.

Crediting her experience at Birmingham to setting her up for the future, she says: ‘’It has given me overall general knowledge of what a major championship is like. It’s such an elite environment so has really been beneficial for me to have experienced that, especially at a home Games.’’

With her sights set on future glory, Eden confidently shares that she is going for gold, ‘’The aspiration for Victoria is to get gold, that seems like the logical step up’’.

For this rising star, Birmingham 2022 was only the starting point, and there is no doubt that we can anticipate many more accomplishments from Eden in the future.