Tuesday 19 September 2017 07:31, UK
If there's an athlete who knows a thing or two about adversity, it's Darren Campbell.
He dropped the relay baton in his first Olympics in 1996, won 100m silver four years later in Sydney, tore a hamstring in Athens in 2004 but recovered to race in the relay to secure gold in his last Games.
These experiences have shaped Darren's career and over the last four years he has passed on this wisdom by mentoring Sky Sports Scholars Quillan Isidore, Holly Bradshaw and Mark English.
All three of my Scholars had something in common. They all dealt with high levels of adversity.
Quillan had broken legs, and Holly and Mark had injuries and their dream of an Olympics was miles away.
What I hope they got out of the Scholarship was realising how important resilience is, how important it is to find a positive when it doesn't seem like there is one, just to keep going and don't let go of that dream.
Mark and Holly never gave up of competing in Rio and their dreams were realised and that was the most rewarding thing for me.
Seeing them go through their adversity and then watching them compete inside the stadium was just incredible - it doesn't get better than that.
At the beginning it was all low for the athletes. It was not their fault but just circumstances.
I just tried to keep my messages to them very simple. It is easy to over-complicate and it was important to have answers for them.
Having answers helped them gain understanding and perspective. I went through similar things in my career and they had faith they could overcome their troubles because I did. I just gave them the tools to understand that and deal with everything they faced.
A great moment for me was seeing Mark in the Rio stadium after he came through his first heat. I was working at the time but I ran down to the media area and it was fantastic to see him and congratulate him.
He had such a difficult journey and it didn't look like he'd be there. I always told him never to give up and after being selected, and then making it there, and then making the semi-finals I had to go and see him - it was a moment that will live with me forever.
What a lot of people probably won't realise is that I was given a mentor before I left Manchester at the age of 17 at the start of my athletics career.
He was a world champion in karate and he enlightened me to the possibilities of what I was capable of, even though I came from a difficult background.
Having a mentor means you don't go through the journey on your own and being with someone who's walked through that same path means they are able to stop you from making the mistakes they made on their journey.
Being a Sky Scholar mentor is the most rewarding thing I've ever done and something I've always wanted to do. The structure from Sky was perfect - it really does give these young sports people the opportunity to excel.
You are always going to need luck and stay on the right side of injuries, but I've watched these guys mature and understand their sport and understand there will probably be more adversity than joy.
But every bit of joy is worth more than adversity and I think enjoyment became a really important aspect of what we did. At times, though, Holly forgot about enjoying her sport.
She burst on to the scene and it was easy for her, but after a couple of knocks she doubted herself.
To see Holly gain that confidence and almost win an Olympic medal was fabulous. She now doesn't believe she will ever not believe again. Making the Rio final was amazing for her.
She didn't make the podium but showed that moving forward in her career she should never give up. Her talent will always be there and she should always believe in herself.
I believe all three of them can all become champions. Mark's got a very strong mind and it's important he gets the right guidance with coaching. I can see him doing big things.
With Holly's talent and her fitness back on track, she has confidence and I expect her to win medals in the coming years. Tokyo could be massive for Mark and Holly.
With Quillan, he's finally settled in Manchester and has probably been on one of the biggest journeys out of the Scholars.
The severity of injuries he's had as a young man, he's gone on a similar journey as me regarding leaving friends and family behind. That's a massive step moving from London to Manchester and he's now settled and now has belief in his training programme.
He's always had the potential and just needed to get on the right path. I don't think people will fully appreciate the journey he's gone on because breaking both legs was serious trauma.
That's not easy to move on from. Quillan had to almost learn to ride again, to ride competitively but also having the confidence that you're going to be OK. I'm excited to see how their journey continues.
