The Truth About Training to Be an Olympian: What It Actually Takes - Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne on the Olympics, Body Image and Starting Over

In this episode I'm joined by Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne, former GB rower and Tokyo Olympian. Charlotte takes us from her early days chasing her older sister into the sport, through World Championship titles, a world record, and racing at the Olympics, right through to walking away from professional sport entirely and co-founding a women's health tech startup. We talk about why she refuses to call any of it luck, the moment fear nearly stopped her stepping into a boat at the World Championships (and why she said yes anyway), the imposter syndrome she still wrestles with, and her honesty about struggling with an eating disorder as a teenager, and how her relationship with food and her body shifted again once she stopped being a full-time athlete. It's a properly honest conversation about choice, identity, and what it really costs to chase excellence. We cover: Why Charlotte insists it was never luck, always a series of deliberate choicesThe last-minute call to substitute into a World Championship final, and the fear she pushed through to say yesImposter syndrome, and why so many women don't talk about feeling itHer experience with an eating disorder as a teenager, how sport became part of her recovery, and the pressure that crept back in as her career became more publicThe jarring transition from full-time athlete to corporate life at BlackRockWhy she's now building a women's health tech startup, and the gap in research and technology she wants to fixAbout Charlotte Charlotte is a former athlete and started her rowing career as a junior back in 2014. She went on to pick up two world championship titles and a world record as an U23, before joining the senior GB team in 2018 and going on to race at the Tokyo Olympics. After retiring from rowing, she completed a brief stint as a semi-pro cyclist, alongside starting her career at BlackRock. Most recently, she's co-founded a women's health tech startup to create and improve the technology women use to understand their health. Connect with Charlotte: Nuri Health (join the waitlist): https://nurihealth.ai/ Instagram: @charlottehodgkinsbyrne If this episode has affected you: If you've been affected by disordered eating or body image struggles, Beat offers free, confidential support. Call the Beat Helpline on 0808 801 0677 or visit beateatingdisorders.org.uk. About Fran Fran Willoughby is an evidential medium, Reiki practitioner and intuitive facilitator, and the host of The Power of the Truth. Through Mojo Motivator she offers mediumship readings, oracle card readings, Reiki healing and coaching, helping people find clarity, connection and confidence through life's biggest transitions. Find out more or book a session at www.mojo-motivator.com. Send us Fan MailIf you have a story that you think would be good for the podcast, please do get in touch by emailing [email protected].