Olympic rower Helen Glover says Cornish support has been amazing following Tokyo 2020
She made the mother of all comebacks to make Team GB again
Cornish rower Helen Glover has opened up to us about what it was like to train for the Olympics as a parent.
The mum-of-three from Penzance made Team GB for the Tokyo 2020 games in the mother of all comebacks.
After a four year break Helen spent lockdown training again with the hope of making the team and made it all the way to the final.
She tells us that being able to train from home during the pandemic made it possible with the children.
Helen said: "If I'd ever tried to come back before, with children, because no mother has actually done it before the system is really set up for having to be at the training centre, you have to do it on their terms and at their times, and being able to train from home meant I could actually consider trying to do while having children at home.
"And so it actually really opened up a door and an opportunity for me, and I hope that in the future that kind of flexibility will be given to other mothers.
"For me I always said I'm a mum first, and the children will always come first, and the training will come second. And that's the way it really worked, I think having that balance and always putting the children first meant I was happy at training, and it never felt like they were missing out."
Despite narrowly missing out on a medal, Helen says she's so proud and the support was incredible.
She told us how Cornwall always plays a special part in that.
She added: "I'm so proud to be Cornish and I always have been, I've got a massive sense of identity of being Cornish, and when I started training and competing I knew there would be a massive level of support from home, but actually I felt it so much and almost more than I ever have done.
"It's been really nice to have that support from people, coming home now, Cornwall at the moment the people I've seen around have offered their support, it's really special to come from Cornwall I think."