Brittney Reese
Brittney Reese is a competitive master of world track and field, winning long jump gold at all six major champs she has competed in since 2009. Here are her three key ingredients for success.
1. Love to compete
"I love to compete. If you don't love to compete it is hard to be a competitor. I'm competitive at whatever I do. I play H-O-R-S-E [the basketball game] with my coach. Neither of us wants to lose and we both take it very seriously. I usually win: I'm the queen of the court.
"They [her coach and others] can't beat me. We take it seriously and play for a championship belt. I feel very sad when I lose. If I finish second or third in a competition, before bedtime I'm back looking at the video to see what went wrong. When things go wrong I'm willing to try new things."
Brittney's battle cry: LOVES winning, HATES losing.
2. Be coachable
"As a top professional athlete you need to be coachable. That is something I pride myself on. I can make corrections. If the coach picks something up regarding my landing, I feel I can make that adjustment very quickly by listening to him. To be coachable as an athlete is important."
3. Believe
"Throughout my career I have always had a belief I can be the best. Even when times are tough, I always believe I can win.
"Take the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, for example. I struggled in prelims and only qualified in the 12th and last spot. Yet I still had a belief I could win in the final, which I did. This is always very important."
