The road to Olympic glory hasn’t been simple for Becky Wilde. The Taunton-born rower didn’t just have to prove herself at the Olympic try-outs, she had to prove herself while recovering from surgery on both her arms.
Becky had compartment syndrome, a condition where too much pressure builds up in your muscles. A career-ending injury or illness is almost a cliché in stories about athletes: the tennis player who broke their wrist and would never pick up a racquet again, the ballerina who got arthritis and would pirouette nevermore, the fencer who needed to have their arm amputated.
For Becky, who dreamed of going to the games since she was six years old, it must have been terrifying. In a speech given at the University of Bath earlier this month, she described it as a “race against time” to get better: “I underwent that ten weeks before the Olympic trials – it was kind of a race against time to get fit and get back in the boat”.
Becky, who is 26, is no stranger to improvising. Growing up she was a talented swimmer, but while studying at the University of Bath she switched lanes mid-stream to pursue rowing.
Faced with the greatest opportunity of her life while recovering from surgery, Becky credits the ‘Olympic Mindset’ with getting her through it: “I had a really good group of friends around me and that definitely helped me get through the tough times, but I also had this mindset- I call it the ‘Olympic Mindset’. I thought ‘I’m just going to give it my best shot’.”
Her best shot got her to the Paris Games earlier this year, where she won a Bronze medal alongside rowing partner Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne. She had come a long way since being a six-year-old girl dreaming about the Olympics.
After undergoing surgery just ten weeks before Olympic qualifiers, Becky Wilde won a “race against time” to qualify and eventually bag a Bronze medal at the Paris games.
(Image: Anna Barclay/University of Bath)
When asked if she gets the celebrity treatment when she’s back in Taunton, Becky laughed and said she’s just treated normally, which is nice. Reflecting on her roots, Becky said: “My parents are PE teachers, my family’s very sporty and I did a lot of sports growing up- swimming was the main one. So it was always my dream- I never knew if I’d achieve it, but it’s very special that a girl from Taunton has that Olympic medal.”
Becky has a tattoo of the Olympic rings on her wrist. It seems poetic that she chose her arms- the arms that needed to recover from surgery, the arms that allowed her to row to that Bronze medal – but Becky said she just wanted the tattoo somewhere she could see it.
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 21: Rebecca Wilde attends The Team GB Ball 2024 at The Roundhouse on November 21, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Kate Green/Getty Images)
(Image: Getty Images)
Becky is determined to keep going for the next four years and take part in the 2028 games in Los Angeles. She’s also passionate about promoting women in sports and is co-hosting a “female-led, female-focussed” podcast called Sharing the Podium with fellow sportswomen Rosie Popa, Zoe De Toledo and Jess Eddie.
But no matter what the future holds, Becky has certainly done Taunton proud.
Sharing the Podium is available to listen to for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Junior Rowing News.
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