Every four years when the Olympic Games comes around heroes are always made. There is usually a favourite who gets beaten by an underdog or an athlete who finally claims the gold medal they have been working for in what is their final shot.
The latter was certainly the case for Dame Kelly Holmes in the Athens Games in 2004. The then 34-year-old from Hildenborough in Kent had timed her training for the Games to perfection and was entering it for once without injury concerns. Even she, however, might not have expected quite what was to come.
Not only was she to become the only individual track and field athlete to win an individual gold in Greece for Britain, but by the end of it she had achieved what no Briton had for 84 years - winning the middle-distance Olympic double.
The first of the two, the 800m, arrived on August 23, and was arguably the most satisfying. Her previous two attempts at the distance, in Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 respectively, had ended - or begun - painfully. In America a torn hamstring in the build-up meant that she was edged out of medal contention, while in 2000 it was her calf, although she battled back to earn bronze in Australia.
Holmes was not originally planning to compete in the 800m in Athens and instead was expected to just focus on the 1500m, the longer distance she was now more comfortable with. Less than a week before the event it was confirmed that she would compete, which with hindsight was one of the best decisions she made in her career.
She had qualified fastest for the final, which had elevated her to being one of the favourites, but there was a lot of work to do following a very fast opening lap. Coming into the final 200m, Holmes was sixth and had to begin her sprint earlier than the leaders. Had she left enough in the tank?
Just after the final straight Holmes went past defending champion Maria Mutola, who responded with a final kick of her own. This, however, was not enough for the Mozambique runner as by now the Briton was in the zone and ready to eliminate all the pain of previous Olympics.
After crossing the line ahead of Hasna Ben Hassi, who had also gone past Mutola, the image of sheer shock on her face would become one of the iconic shots of the whole Games. Here was an athlete who had been through it all, had contemplated retirement - and even suicide, she would reveal after the Athens Games - but had emerged victorious through it all. It was her last chance, and she had taken it.
To cap things off, five days later Holmes completed the double with gold in the 1,500m, the first British athlete since Albert Hill to achieve this. As she crossed the line with her arms aloft, Holmes had proven that with determination anything was possible.
Her final honours were to become a DBE in 2005 (she was already an MBE for her services to the army) and winning the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award immediately after her Athens triumph.
Matt Domm
