When Kelly Holmes brought home double gold in the 2004 Olympics she became a national hero. She showed remarkable staying power and stamina in the face of a number of career-threatening injuries. In her new biography ‘Black, White and Gold’ Kelly charts her history from a childhood passion for athletes, to her 10-year army service, and her host of accolades as BBC Personality of the Year 2004 and being honoured as Dame by the queen in March this year. Jo Webber finds out what has inspired one of Britain’s most prolific sporting legends.

Kelly on athletics

“My first love was athletics. I started breaking school records in all distances and in fact those records still stand for all the 800 and 1500 metre races that I ran between my first and fifth year. If I had a job to do or training, I’d get in and do it. I was so into my athletics that I’d always rather go training. I was extraordinarily single-minded.”

“Leconfield Barracks operated as much as a functioning army base as well as a driving school. Driving Land Rovers through the thick mud was a real laugh. The great thing about Leconfield was that, unlike basic training, the time after a day’s work was pretty much your own. I did get friendly with someone because of a close environment in training but it was nothing serious. I was to find that during my early twenties, I was quite a jealous person when it came to relationships. I was always worried that things would end before I had given them a chance. I tended to pre-empt anything bad happening, especially when drinking was involved.”

Kelly on her privacy after speculation about an affair with athlete Jason Dulforce

“It was at this point in my life that I vowed that I would never talk about my private life to anyone and that is how it has been every since. I realised that people assume what they want without bothering to find out whether or not it’s anything close to the truth. I have relationships with people I like, people I get to know and maybe fall in love with. But as far as I’m concerned, it’s nobody’s business but that person’s and mine.”

Kelly on her relationship with Mozambique sporting star Maria Mutola

“Within the first two weeks of being in Potchefstroom training camp in Johannesburg, I felt a fantastic improvement. I had the motivation that I needed and Maria and I got on really well. She had the air of confidence of an athlete who had won six world indoor and outdoor championships, whereas I had totally lost my confidence after all the injury set-backs I had suffered. It seemed I could only improve my mindset by working with her. However, word went round that a journalist was spreading rumours that Maria and I were having a relationship. The rumours seemed to be based on the fact that we were single, very good friends and living together in Johannesburg. Both of us had been dedicated to reaching our peak performance at the World Championships, and were glad of each other’s company when we weren’t training. Simple as that. I could cope with the insinuations because there had been speculation about me before because of my closeness to certain people when I had been in the Army. However it was a different thing for Maria who was very upset by them. She is a big celebrity in Mozambique and the rumour-mongering affected our friendship badly. As a result of the gossip, we both felt awkward talking to one another in public or hanging out together, in case it was misconstrued.”

“I started to celebrate (winning the 800m), my eyes popping out of my head, my mouth wide open, but then had a second of doubt. I lowered my arms a little as I realised that I couldn’t possibly have won the gold. (On winning the 1500m), it had taken years of dedication, commitment, focus, emotional struggle and pain but now I had done it. I was double Olympic champion, with a new British record of 3:57.90. This is my life, what I've dreamt of forever. No one can ever take it away. I will always be Olympic champion.”

Holmes, then 34, became only the seventh British woman to win an Olympic track and field title as she clinched the Olympic titles. “I have reached a point in my life when I can be who I want to be no matter what people think. I can just be me. I can just be Kelly.”