WEEK #51: ELEANOR H.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. 

I am an Olympic athlete in the sport of fencing. I started fencing at age 10, and before that was into karate and running. I was a super competitive kid, and ever since I was 5, I knew I wanted to become an Olympian. I had the best ever Olympic result in Canadian fencing history, finishing 7th at the Rio 2016 Games. I have qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Games with my teammates, as well, which have been postponed to 2021. Now we are training hard getting ready to compete during the summer! Outside of fencing, I love yoga, drawing, running, hanging out with friends, and listening to podcasts. 

What inspired you to participate in sport? 

My parents were both pretty intense athletes. They would compete in Ironman Triathlons and were always running and keeping super active. Seeing how much they valued exercise made me aim to achieve the highest level possible from a very young age, and the idea of the Olympics became my guiding force. 

What qualities of a leader do you appreciate most? Why? 

I love leaders who use emotional intelligence and make the people they are leading feel seen, heard, 

and understood. I find myself much more willing and curious to listen to people who have shown their human side and have demonstrated they care about the well-being of those they are leading. I think good leaders make the goal of the group based on input from everyone, and once they have a vision they reference it often to remind people what they are working towards and that they are all striving for the same goal. To me, a great leader knows how to make many individuals feel united and motivated. 

What advice do you have for parents, coaches or sport administrators to encourage or improve sport for females? 

There definitely needs to be more diversity in coaching and sports administrators in terms of gender, race, ability/disability, and many other identities. People who have lived experience of what doing sport is like for a girl growing have valuable experience to offer. 

I would encourage parents to:

• Seek out a female coach! We exist! 
• Talk about issues like sexism and racism with your kid, talk about harmful stereotypes and ways to address them when they come up in life and sport
• Watch women’s sports with your child
• Speak kindly of other girls and encourage your daughter to support other young girls in sport instead of creating an only competitive mentality 

For administrators, I think it is really important to make harassment and abuse reporting easily accessible. 

What is a song that motivates you?

“Easy Money” – Westerman

Instagram: @eleamorgue