Welsh Para Legend Hollie Arnold is Back . . . and Ready for More Glory in New Delhi

After competing on the global stage since making her Paralympic debut at 14 years old in Beijing, Hollie Arnold says she realised her mental health was suffering.

The 31-year-old had been on a constant cycle of preparing for and completing at a string of global championships for more than 15 years.

Arnold decided something had to give after winning bronze at the Paris Paralympics last September – less than four months on from winning her sixth world title in Japan.

The Blackheath and Bromley athlete said she eventually put her hand up and asked for help.

The resulting break from the sport ended when she competed at the UK Athletics Championships at the beginning of August, throwing 41.37m – her longest distance since 2019.

Now Arnold is back in the Great Britain team and ready to fire on all cylinders at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday.

Hollie Arnold being introduced to the crowd in Birmingham. Pic: Owen Morgan

During a break from training at the team’s holding camp in a baking hot Dubai, Arnold spoke openly about why she had to step away from competition.

“I've had a really long time off, the longest I've ever had off from the sport,” said Arnold.

“I realised I’ve had a lot of heartbreak and a lot of demons to battle in the last decade that I’d just put to one side.

“I’ve always known it's been there, but I've always been like, I've got world championships to do, I've got Paralympics, I've got this to do . . .

“Kobe was amazing, becoming six-time world champion, and then having to knuckle straight back down and be like, ‘well, I need to go out there and win the Paralympics’. So it was really tough to go there and take the bronze.

“I think after that I was like, ‘I really haven't been myself for a very, very long time. I've not been that happy Holly’.

“I put my hand up, I need help, I'm not okay.”

Hollie Arnold enjoying being back competing in Birmingham. Pic: Owen Morgan

Having asked for help, Arnold received support from a clinical psychologist, which she feels has been of huge benefit.

“I’ve working through that for the last nine months, and that's been a massive help,” she said.

“The CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) stuff, it's very different. I've only been used to a sports psychologist.

“I’ve found myself again. I didn't realise how bad I was until I started work with my therapist.

“It was a bit scary, having to go and talk about your deepest, darkest thoughts and process things. But I think it's really opened my eyes.

“I've been in sports since I was 11 years old. My first ever Paralympics was Beijing in 2008 when I was 14. I'm now 31 so I'm feeling quite old at the moment!”

As well as six world titles, Arnold has also won paralympic gold, Commonwealth Games gold for Wales, held the world record and earned countless other medals during her stellar career.

Hollie Arnold launching the javelin at the UK Athletics Championships in Birmingham. Pic: Owen Morgan

But she feels the break away from competition has made her appreciate the sport itself again and not just the medals that are at stake.

“I always had to go out and win gold,” said Arnold.

“It was always that or nothing and I felt like taking that nine months off was a realisation that we have such a beautiful life (as athletes), and it's such an honour to be able to have this in my life.

“I needed that real long break to sort of fix myself, in a way, to understand myself and process things that I haven't done for a very long time.”

Despite there being times when she considered retiring from athletics as well as feeling anxious when she was preparing to return to training, Arnold is delighted to be back in the fold at the GB holding camp.

“We had conversations. It was like, okay, I want to start back, but just really low level stuff, let's just see,” said Arnold.

“And yeah, I just instantly started to feel better and better. And then I was like, okay, I want to train once a week. Okay, let's do twice a week. And then it just became so natural. I fell into a normal, natural routine.

“It just made me realise that coming here, to be able to be selected for my eighth World Championships and to be back on the team and to be happy, it's lovely, it's so nice.

“I’ve had lots of members of staff saying ‘it's so lovely to see you happy again’. I think I made the right choice. I had to take time off, otherwise I never would have come back.”

Arnold hopes other sportspeople suffering the pressures of a relentless schedule will benefit from her experiences.

“I've learned that there is life outside of sports,” she said. “I’ve managed to be able to enjoy the little things, like going for a walk with my friends again, and going home and seeing my family a bit more, and making training and life work.

“It was about getting that balance for me. There was no balance in my life whatsoever. Athletics was up here, and the rest of my life was down here, and it had to flip. Something had to change.

“And I'm incredibly proud of myself for once. I am probably my worst critic, and that's such an athlete trait to have, unfortunately.

“But it's so nice to be proud of myself and just to see myself smile and laugh again and be a part of the group and actually be excited at the same time as feeling every other emotion under the sun.”

Now she is looking forward to the competition in New Delhi, especially after her performance in Birmingham, achieved with just a handful of javelin training sessions.

“To be able to come out and throw the furthest I've done since 2019 I was like, okay, maybe that was good to have some time off,” said Arnold of her only competition this year.

“It just shows you how, when you're mentally in a better place, everything can start falling back into place again.”

As for her ambitions at the World Championships, Arnold says: “You know what sport’s like. It's certainly an absolute roller coaster, and it has been in the last few years for me.

“But to go out there and just compete again, and hopefully to be able to compete at my best on that day, I hope that it's good enough for the medals.

“I know what I want in my own head, but it's just on the day. Anything can happen beforehand, but it's always about a clean slate on the day.

“I'll fight. I'm a fighter, that's who I am. That's what I'll be doing on the day.”

Arnold is one of eight Welsh athletes in the 37-strong Great Britain team. Also competing are Aled Davies (Cardiff Athletics), Olivia Breen (City of Portsmouth), Sabrina Fortune (Deeside AAC), Harrison Walsh (Swansea Harriers), Michael Jenkins (Swansea Harriers) Funmi Oduwaiye (Cardiff Athletics) and Bree Cronin (Cardiff Athletics.

The World Championships begin on Saturday, September 27 and continue until October 5.