For England's next wave of athletics hopefuls, meeting Dame Kelly Holmes was more than a brush with fame, it was a lesson in motivation and belief.

Dame Kelly Holmes, one of the nation's greatest ever athletes, won two gold medals and one silver at the Commonwealth Games during her athletics career before becoming President of Commonwealth Games England in 2009.

A former Army physical training instructor, Holmes battled years of injury throughout her career to become a sporting icon and has since dedicated her career to mentoring young athletes and speaking openly about mental health and resilience.

Three lucky young Commonwealth Youth Games athletes: Stan Chevous, Lyla Belshaw and Eliza Nicholson, were able to finally meet their hero at Team England Legends alumni event earlier this year and the young guns described their meeting with the double Olympic champion as transformative, speaking about how her story resonated with their own challenges, particularly around injury and mental resilience.

“Honestly, ever since I was growing up watching Kelly, she’s been such an inspiration,” said Nicholson, who won 3000m bronze at the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2023.

“She talked about her experiences with injury and how much of the sport is mental. That really motivated all of us today to keep going and just work as hard as we can with the season ahead and anything is possible if you put your mind to it.”

That message hit home for 1500m runner Belshaw, who reminisced on how Holmes has motivated her from a young age: “I remember reading her autobiography when I was younger. She was the first professional athlete in my event that I knew. Just hearing her talk to us about injuries and how to cope with them was inspiring and so helpful,” she said.

“I had shin splints that took ages to get rid of, but Kelly made me realise that when you’re injured and you’re cross training and it’s still towards the final goal. It’s not that you’re not training, you’re still training, just differently.”

For these young athletes, the reassurance that setbacks don’t mean failure was invaluable. Holmes’s advice reframed their struggles, showing them that recovery and resilience are as much a part of an athlete’s career as medals and podiums.

“Speaking to her made me realise how alike we are,” said Chevous, who represented England in the men's 400m at Trinbago 2023. “It was really interesting because we struggle the same way and it doesn’t feel that far away from getting to where she is and what she’s done, so it was really inspiring to speak to her.”

Chevous described the encounter as “surreal.” Wearing the same kit as Holmes once did, he said, made him feel part of something bigger.

 “You feel like you’re part of them [GB athletes], part of the community," he added. "I only did the Youth Commonwealth Games, but I feel like there so much more, such a long pathway.”

For these young British athletes, Holmes’s greatest gift was not her Olympic triumphs, but her ability to pass on the belief that with perseverance, they too can succeed.