Tokyo Tour Diaries with Livvy Breen

We sat down with Olivia Breen to talk about her build-up to the Tokyo Paralympic Games, its postponement from 2020 to the summer of 2021 and her valuable experience as a student within the Oaklands Wolves Athletics Academy at Oaklands College and how it shaped her future as a professional athlete.

How did you feel when you found out you were going to represent Team GB (Great Britain) at the Tokyo Paralympic Games? To be honest it was a huge relief. For so long there was so much uncertainty surrounding the Games – would they happen, or wouldn’t they? Getting the call to say I had been selected suddenly made the Games seem real and that they would actually happen. It is always an honour to represent Team GB but this time the selection meant even more.

How did you keep yourself motivated to train throughout the pandemic, did you ever think the games might not go ahead? When it was first announced that the Games would be postponed for a year I was quite down and unmotivated. My family kept telling me postponement was better than cancellation but the prospect of waiting another year was daunting. Also, the pandemic was raging, and it was hard to imagine the world ever being the same again. The Games seemed insignificant compared to everything that was going on around the world. After a few days though I gave myself a talking to and “Come on Livvy – you need to get moving!” From then

on, I literally didn’t stop moving all the way through lockdown.

Tell us about Tokyo, how much of the city did you get to experience, where you allowed out of your athlete zones? If not, were you able to experience the culture from your quarters? We didn’t really see anything of Tokyo, due to COVID restrictions. In Holding Camp, we were just allowed to go to the track and from the village we only went to the stadium. However, the volunteers were amazing, and they made a massive effort to make it special for us and made a huge fuss of us. Their enthusiasm was contagious, and I can’t wait to go back to experience Japan properly.

On the day of your T38 Long Jump final, how did you prepare? Do you have any rituals you follow, what is your go-to Paralympic breakfast etc? My event was in the evening, so I got up later than normal. I had a breakfast of porridge and banana – my go to event day brekkie! For the rest of the morning and early afternoon I kept myself to myself – took a little nap and watched videos of previous competitions to get in the zone. I had an amazing apartment in the village – we all got along very well, and it was so supportive – they helped me keep my head together without any stress.

How did it feel when you stepped up onto the podium with your bronze medal? Can you put it into words? I was actually really emotional! An individual medal has been my dream since 2012 and after all the uncertainty surrounding the Games, the medal felt even more special than I thought it would – I was beyond happy and excited!

Other than your bronze medal, what is the biggest thing you have taken home with you from Tokyo? I have so many special memories from Tokyo and made so many amazing friends on Team GB throughout all the sports and from the rest of the world. It is difficult to describe the environment in the village, other than to say it is one of real mutual support. I celebrated my medal by having dinner with one of the South African team who I bumped into on my way back to the village and that will be a great memory for me! I adopted a mantra in Tokyo which I have brought home with me and that is “It is what it is”. This year and this Games have shown more than ever that we can only control so much. I knew I had done the work and all I could do, and the result would take care of itself!

What are your aims for Paris 2024, will you be hoping to medal again? Of course! That’s what we do it for! I really want to break the 5-metre mark as I know I have a much bigger jump in me.

You were a graduate of the Oaklands Wolves Athletics Academy programme at Oaklands College, along with Maria Lyle, Reece Prescod, Daryll Neita, Celia Quansah and Ama Pipi who also all competed in Tokyo. How helpful was the academy in shaping your future as a professional athlete? Wow – what an incredible group of athletes, eh! The results kind of

speak for themselves about how instrumental Oaklands College was in the development of all of us. For me coming to Oaklands at 17 and training with such an immensely talented group of athletes was really inspiring and made me want to compete to the very best of my ability. As a disabled athlete, it was amazing to be training with athletes of such a high calibre and they really pushed me as

we all trained together in the same sessions. It was also good to have the ability to live at Oaklands in college accommodation, so we weren’t on our own. I lived in houses with Celia, Daryll and Ama which was so much fun and we are all still friends now. Going to Oaklands made me believe in myself as a serious athlete and helped me to mature as a person as well.