Georgina Kennedy on lifetime ambition of competing in the Olympics

As a child, it was Georgina Kennedy’s dream to compete in the Olympic Games.

Although this was initially with a view to compete on the running track and not within the four walls of a squash court, Kennedy’s love for the Olympics was clear for all to see.

When she stepped back from running to focus solely on a squash, Kennedy thought that these career aspirations had disappeared, but the International Olympic Committee’s recent decision to add squash to the LA28 roster may finally have turned her dreams into reality.

Upon hearing the news about squash’s proposal to the Olympic Games, the World No.8 said: “It’s not just going to be huge for me on a personal level but also for the game in general.

“Hopefully it is going to transform the game, a lot more money can be invested into it and we can showcase our amazing sport. I honestly thought it would never be the case for me [to be able to compete for an Olympic medal].

“When I was younger I was quite a competitive runner and my dream was to be an Olympian. My bedsheets and my curtains in my room were the Olympic rings, like I genuinely grew up with that being a massive dream of mine, and when I gave up running I thought I also gave up that dream.

“There’s that little girl screaming inside of me, but it is still five years away so it’s a long time to stress about it and think about selection!”

Kennedy, 26, has already enjoyed prior success when representing her country, becoming the first Englishwoman to win a Commonwealth Games squash singles title with her victory over Canada’s Hollie Naughton at Birmingham 2022.

The England No.1 also competed in two further events that fortnight, reaching the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles alongside Lucy Turmel, and the last-sixteen of the mixed doubles event with Patrick Rooney.

On the difference between competing on the PSA World Tour and a team events such as the Commonwealth Games, Kennedy said: “It was a hugely different experience.

“At the Commonwealth Games I won the women’s singles, which is similar to a PSA event when you are playing in the women’s singles, but you are also there as a team, and a wider team England, and for the Olympics it is going to be for team Great Britain.

“You constantly feel like you have the full support of the team around, whereas on the PSA you can travel to different countries on your own and you sometimes don’t have people in your corner supporting you, so it’s completely different.

“It was the best two weeks of my life, no doubt.”

The 26-year-old, who is currently England No.1 and achieved a career-high ranking of No.6 in the world last month, believes squash is a sport that is tailor-made for the Olympics and can only benefit from it’s inclusion in Los Angeles in five years’ time.

“I think it is super exciting to watch,” she said. “It’s high paced, there’s lots of action, it’s a niche sport, and lots of the Olympic sports are pretty niche as well which is really exciting.

“The Olympics is a place for athletes from every sport to showcase their talent and squash also deserves that opportunity, so I just think we need to show the world what an amazing sport it is, so we can finally get that exposure that we deserve.”

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