Stephanie Davis says it's mad to make her GB debut at Tokyo Olympics

The 30-year-old is a relative newcomer to the event, having only run her first marathon in Berlin in 2018.

But she's developed at such a remarkable pace since than that she is now targeting Tokyo and the Olympics after winning selection with a personal best time of 2:27.16 to finish more than two minutes clear of the rest of the field at the recent qualifying event in Kew Gardens.

Davis now lives down south, running for Clapham Chasers and working three days a week for finance company Lazard Asset Management.

She plans to remain a part-time athlete, a refreshing throwback to the Olympics’ amateur ethos.

Alongside her training, she works three days a week for finance company Lazard Asset Management, a balance that she thinks plays to her advantage.

“I’m going to keep going with the way things are, it’s really worked well for me in the past,” added Davis, who will be looking to add to the 864 medals won by British Olympians and Paralympians since National Lottery funding began in 1997.

“What has worked so far is that I work three days a week and I have the two extra days to focus on running, to help with the recovery.

“I find that’s a really good balance for me. It helps me not be all consumed by running all the time.”

Davis had been due to make her international bow in the world half-marathon championships last year, only for the pandemic and then injury to deny her that opportunity.

That means that it will instead be Tokyo where she makes her global debut, a surreal situation which she is still trying to get her head around.

She said: “I was qualified to run the world half-marathon championships but that was postponed until October and then I had to pull out a couple of weeks before because I was injured.

“So I had all the kit sitting there but I was unable to put it on and go for the race. I just couldn’t get there in any sort of shape to be able to run.

“So to now wear the kit for the first time and go to the Olympics also feels quite mad.

“I’ve never been to an Olympics so I’ve got nothing to compare it to.

“I just keep reminding myself why we do this and with the Olympics at the end of this next journey, it’s a huge motivator to recover properly. Although the experience will be different, I’m just going to take all the positives about being there and just being able to go is so exciting.

“Bring it on, I can’t wait to get on the plane.”

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