"I do believe the saying ‘if you don’t see it you can’t be it’" - Sam Ruddock

Para cycling World Champion Sam Ruddock talks representation, role models and attitude for Black History Month…

What I do professionally now is very selfish. It’s all about how I can improve me, myself and my successes on the bike. It’s a balancing act though, because really, I’m not a selfish person by nature.

The work I do with young people helps me regain that balance – it’s a deal I made with myself: if I’m going to spend that much time doing something for me, then I’m also going to spend the time I can sharing the lessons I’ve learned. Squaring off the selfishness with helping others is how I’m able to sleep at night.

I’ve worked with young people since 2012, when I was asked by the Youth Sport Trust to get involved in a programme where Paralympic athletes worked as mentors taking kids on days out to learn about what makes a good leader, the youth voice and how that works in communities. Now I’m also an ambassador with the sports and education charity Inspire+ which aims to positively impact young peoples’ lives.

A lot of the kids are cut from the same cloth as I was – I was on free school meals at school, all of my education was means tested and through grants and scholarships and loans. It’s about working with children that don’t have the same kind of exposure and experiences that would be afforded to them if they lived in more affluent areas. And I love the work I do. Children are wonderful, annoying, amazing, frustrating and brutally honest all at the same time - and every day is different.

Am I a role model? The sector is crying out for men that can be positive role models to boys and girls. Being mixed race too, again is it not something I want to make a big deal out of, but I’m well aware how much of an impact that has on certain groups of children.

In sport, I do believe the saying ‘if you don’t see it you can’t be it.’ When I was growing up my favourite rugby union player was the England fullback Jason Robinson, because he looked like me. He was small, he was quick, and I wanted to be just like him, because I saw myself in him. That’s why he became my favourite player. That’s how children gravitate – by seeing themselves in a space they want to get to. So I understand there’s a really important role I can play.

I’d like cycling to be more diverse and I believe it is moving in the right direction – certainly in London, where there is a much more diverse demographic of people, there are black cycling clubs and in certain areas it is fantastic. Of course there’s a reason as to why cycling is not diverse - this sport is incredibly expensive, that’s probably the main barrier in terms of social diversity. It’s something we are very aware of and something we want to improve. I’m also part of the Kadeena Cox Academy. It’s a really cool initiative – it’s a space for black cyclists to promote themselves and to promote our vision to make the sport more diverse.

I think a lot of the issues we have in terms of inaccessibility to sport also boils down to attitude. Those that hold the keys – coaches and those that facilitate sport – play such a crucial role in encouraging inclusivity in sport. Growing up I’d often been told ‘this could be difficult for you’ or ‘this could be a challenge’. Rugby coaches warned me I could be targeted on the pitch and that it could be difficult for me because of my cerebral palsy. When I joined the American Football team at Loughborough University in 2009 things couldn’t have been more different. The coaches were open-minded and said that if I turned up and wanted to play, then that was great - who were they to tell me what I could and couldn’t do?

Now I’m one of the coaches, training the defensive line two nights a week. It helps me when I have conversations with my own cycling coaches too. It’s also really important to me if I have a bad training day on the bike - my intrinsic value isn’t pinned on that one thing. I can go and coach, or I can go and do work with kids in school. I can find happiness in all of these places and not just in a box full of medals!