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Raise Your Game: As a female sporting role model, what would you say to encourage more young girls into sport?

Steph Twell: Get together with a group of friends and go down to a local club. If you've got support around you, then it's always going to make your training more enjoyable. You can always start to build friendships through athletics, which is what the sport has given me.

RYG: What kinds of skills has sport taught you?

ST: It has made me the athlete I am today. It's the discipline you carry, not only in your athletic life, but in your personal life. Sport gives you a sense of self-fulfilment, which is a great characteristic to have. It's about focusing your life on something and trying to attain a goal which is wonderful.

RYG: How can a student relate your preparation for an event to their preparation for an exam?

ST: If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail! That's the motto. You need to re-focus all the time and try and translate that into all aspects of your life.

RYG: What has sport given you?

ST: So many things! I've met so many wonderful people through this sport. It's the self-fulfilment and the individual achievement that you can get out of the sport and the people that work around you.

RYG: Finally, if you could give a message to all the young people out there to get involved in sport, what would that message be?

ST: There's no short cuts in athletics so if you want to go there and you want to succeed, you've got to work hard.