We speak to the European Under-23 champion whose focus on the psychology of sport is paying off big.
In this fast-paced digital world, there’s still a lot to be said for the humble notebook.
World high jump champion and Olympic silver medalist Nikola Ollislagers is particularly known for his post-jump ritual, which includes technical tips, motivational quotes and personal reflections.
A similar practice was adopted by Emily Newnham, the European champion in the under-23 400m hurdles. The 21-year-old clocked a personal best and championship record of 54.08 to win gold in Bergen in July. He told AW: when his victory was the result of two years of rebuilding, including working with a sports psychologist on techniques to help him overcome his nerves and expectations, after finishing fourth at the 2023 European Under-20 Championships.
Although the process of documenting the notes has been fruitful over the past 12 months, its success has ironically brought with it a new set of emotions to contend with.
“Everything I wanted to achieve, I achieved, so it was really strange to achieve those goals and think, “Oh, I did it,” he says. “They were things I’d been thinking about for so long and suddenly I was ticking them off one by one, so it was really overwhelming to start.
“During the Europeans I wrote notes in my notebook and when I looked at them they really resonated with me, but when I went to the British Champs two weeks later and opened the notebook again, which didn’t happen, the quotes didn’t give me the same buzz.
“I had a bit of a strange time between the Europeans (under-23s) and the worlds because of that. My training was up and down and I had to rebuild my mindset. In the Europeans my goal was to win, but not in the world. The idea of ​​success was different, so I had to figure out what success I would have in Tokyo and what I wrote with a new brand. support that goal.”
Newnham, coached by Nick Dakin, represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the European Athletics Indoor Championships (winning 4x400m silver and 4x400m medley bronze), the World Athletics Relay, the European Team Championships (where he won 4x400m 4 3x4m medley bronze and 2000m gold in 40). 400m hurdles individual title) and the 2025 World Athletics Championships. not bad for an athlete who used to be apprehensive about standing on the starting line. In the process, she lowered her personal best from 56.85 to 54.08.
“I think the biggest thing I’ve learned from this year is to believe in myself and know how important that is,” she says. “To come away from this year knowing that I can stand on these starting lines, that I deserve to be there and that I can be competitive, that’s a big thing for me. I never imagined a world where I would be at these events, let alone be able to actually be competitive in the future.
“It’s also understanding that what I’m feeling is completely normal and that thoughts aren’t facts, for example, just because I to think something, that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. Knowing that thoughts are fleeting, that I can think something and let it go, has had a huge impact.
“I’ve always said that sport is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical, but now I’ve experienced it myself and I can see the results. That’s why I put so much emphasis on psychology. I’m obviously doing my best on the track, but it’s pointless if I don’t believe I should be there.”
A typical training week
Newnham, whose training partners include international team-mate Poppy Malik, is in his final year at Loughborough College studying sports coaching. He trains between Loughborough, Birmingham (Alexander Stadium) and Nuneaton.
“Our focus is on the gym right now because we need to build my strength,” he says of his current training block.
“I didn’t really like the gym before. If you had told me I could get all my strength from running I would have preferred it, but my strength and training coach Nick Card has completely changed my mindset and I enjoy training now.”
In addition to scheduled gym days, Newnham does core and bodyweight work (“pre-med stuff”) at various points during the week.
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- Monday. (morning) technical session at Alexander Stadium (indoor track). “We start with obstacle walks, then move on to anything obstacle-based (like four or five steps and drills),” she explains. “It’s actually my least favorite day of the week. I find it so tiring because I just want to run.” (pm) Gym in Loughborough
- Tuesday. (morning) lactic acid tolerance session. longer repetitions with shorter recoveries eg 300m-3min recovery-300m-10min recovery-300m-3min recovery-300m
- Wednesday: (morning) gym
- Thursday. (Morning) Endurance/Aerobics session currently on grass in Loughborough eg 90s-90-75s-75s-45s-45s equal recovery
- Friday (morning) gym
- Saturday. (morning) endurance/aerobics session or speed/fartlek session (grass) from about 20 minutes of total running at the start of winter to about 35 minutes of total running (at the end of the winter block)
- Sunday. rest day
Favorite session: “In the summer it’s always my hurdles training, like start five with the hurdles, it’s just a good session, but in the winter it’s more like 250m-300m. One of my favorites is a tempo-based session like 5 x 300m (3 minutes off). When you get into a rhythm and you just flow.”
Least favorite session. “There’s a three-minute wave when I see that in my program I want to cry. We run for three minutes, and Nick will shout: “Take it!”
