Olympian Sally Gunnell now life coaches others (Image: handout)
Olympian Sally Gunnell has told the Daily Express how she’s tackled the hurdle of menopause – and is now coaching other women to beat the mid-life health challenge.
Gunnell, 58, won gold in the 1992 Olympics and at the peak of her powers was the first female 400-metre hurdler to simultaneously hold Commonwealth, European, World, and Olympic track titles.
Eight years ago the mum-of-three of Brighton, West Sussex – married to ex-athlete and coach Jonathan Bigg – started to suffer panic attacks and red rashes which she later realised was the start of the menopause.
Now she’s raising awareness of the condition, highlighting the benefits of diet and exercise against the 48 different symptoms and coaching menopausal women to not just be the best they can be … but better.
Gunnell’s also working with GenM, the menopause partner for brands, to widen the use of their ‘MTick’ logo – now used by over 100 retail household names – assuring women their products and shopping experience helps those tackling symptoms.
Olympian Sally Gunnell (Image: handout)
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Express, she admitted being scared by the initial symptoms as her own mum Rosemary briefly suffered mental health issues when Gunnell was 15 – and she feared she was manifesting it too.
She explained: “As an athlete you are usually so in tune with your body but the menopause really threw me.
“When I think about those early signs I had when I was 50 – being really anxious going on stage, really itchy eyes, a red rash when I was about to go on television. I had two years of that, then hot flushes came in too!
“But even just back then we didn’t really talk about the menopause. I wish I’d known then what I know now. It’s part of life and we need to embrace it and lead our full life.
“Also I know my mum had a mental breakdown when I was 15 and I reckon, looking back, that part of that was menopausal and it was a tough couple of years.
“She’s still alive, 92 and we were talking to her the other day. They didn’t know about menopause then, or hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
“You were put on drugs and classed as depressed. She went through a tough couple of years but she came out of it and think part of it was hormonal.”
From 1992 and 1994, Gunnell won her every international event, claiming Olympic, World Championship, European Championship, Commonwealth, Goodwill Games, IAAF World Cup and European Cup golds in the 400 metres, breaking British, European and World records.
She is the only female British athlete to have won all four ‘majors’; Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth titles. Her former world record time of 52.74 secs in 1993 is still the current British record.
Like a record number of people in England, according this week to new data a staggering 2.6 million, Gunnell is taking HRT which replaces oestrogen and progestogen through the menopause or perimenopause.
But Gunnell also says now more than ever it’s vital she still makes time in her busy life to look after herself with nutrition and exercise.
She said: “Now I try to do something about it, things like running, chill tubs, going for walks and just talking about it.
“It’s also about eating well and upping your protein and having a balanced diet. I know if I’ve eaten lots of takeaways and have too much wine I definitely get hot flushes.
“There are lots of things I purposefully put into my life – those one per cents as an athlete to make you the best version you can be – that can help me navigate the next stage of my life.”
Sally running the track (Image: Getty)
Sally now spends her busy days doing motivational and wellness speeches and coaching the public through her ‘Life’s Hurdle’ body and mind programme – alongside middle son Luca, 23.
Fitness runs in her family as her and Jonathan’s eldest son Finley, 26, runs his own gym with his girlfriend while youngest son Marley, 19, also works in a gym.
She explained: “Life’s Hurdle is around wellbeing, the importance of looking after yourself and Life’s Hurdle developed off the back of that – women 45-plus who have put on menopausal weight.
“They may also have weak muscles so we set them weight programmes, look at what they are eating, try to get their protein up. I love it.”
But Gunnell has also been working with GenM, who created the Mtick as part of their ‘Live your best menopause’ campaign, to help spread further awareness and give more visibility to the condition that affects 15.5 million UK women.
In October – Menopause Awareness Month – GenM research found that when shopping for solutions, 94 per cent of women want menopause-labelled products, yet 83 per cent haven’t noticed any specific signage in stores.
Gary Neville’s wife Emma is also a GenM ambassador (Image: handout)
“I feel there will be influences physically and mentally to cope with everyday social and working life to support this transition of the menopause.”
It’s hoped the MTick – which can be likened to the Vegan ‘V’ – will help women better understand the 48 signs of menopause and to have more opportunities to search, source and shop for trusted products that can support them.
Morrisons are introducing menopause-friendly aisle ends and in-aisle fixtures will be located across 45 stores with MTick accredited branded and own-label products, including Dove skincare and haircare, Colgate oral care, Canesten intimate health, Menopace vitamins, and Tena incontinence support – all targeting key signs of menopause.
GenM CEO Heather Jackson created the MTick (Image: handout)
Heather Jackson, 55, a manopausal mother-of-two and CEO/Co-Founder of GenM, told the Daily Express: “No single brand, retailer or ambassador can change the visibility of menopause on its own.
“But united, we can all play our part in driving real change to how society views ‘the change’. We believe nothing should stand in the way of women living their best menopause.”
Telling us how she had her own experience with menopause, Jackson added: “I hit perimenopause aged 47 woefully underprepared for it and felt underserved and overlooked by brands I had trusted all my life to find me solutions.
“So me and my friend Sam, my co-founder, started to talk about our menopause and how let down we felt when looking for things like climate-controlled bedding or make-up foundation that wouldn’t run down our face or which supplements should we be taking.
“We felt we could help other women have a better lived experience with their menopause and getting shops to embrace the MTick is just one of those.”