Ellie Simmonds Quotes

Ellie Simmonds

Profession : Athlete

Birth : November 11, 1994

Four Games is incredible. Especially as an nine-year-old watching Athens 2004. To think as a kid then I would not just go to one Games but four.

Ellie Simmonds

For me I normally rise up to a Paralympics, I love those pressured environments.

Ellie Simmonds

When I was in Beijing, London, and also in Rio I was still a kid really, I didn't feel pressure.

Ellie Simmonds

The whole nation thinks I should be winning, winning, winning all the time and that's a lot to take on my shoulders.

Ellie Simmonds

It's really exciting to get the Paralympic sport out there and inspire the next generation - I remember watching the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games that inspired me to want to got to a Paralympic Games.

Ellie Simmonds

If you've got a disabilty you're normal, it's just something that's different.

Ellie Simmonds

As an older woman now, I feel the pressure more, I feel all those different aspects, I'm more aware of that. Whereas as a 13-year-old, as a 17-year-old, you just do swimming, you're just doing it as sport where you don't really think of all the outside bits.

Ellie Simmonds

To be honest, I've not really felt like a flagbearer for women's sport.

Ellie Simmonds

Sometimes I'll get reminded that I promote Paralympic sport and Paralympics GB. Yes, I have a role but I don't feel like an idol.

Ellie Simmonds

I've achieved my dream of getting a Paralympic gold medal and I'm very lucky that I've been to three Games where I've come away with five gold medals.

Ellie Simmonds

You're never going to lose your sport. It's like riding a bike to be honest.

Ellie Simmonds

I didn't enjoy Rio. My team-mates were great but some of the staff made it a really negative place.

Ellie Simmonds

I spoke to my parents and my agent a year before Rio. I was like: 'I don't want to do this. I want to get away.' They said: 'Just grit your teeth for a year. Then you can have your break. And if you want to retire, you can retire then.' I was in tears. I just hated it.

Ellie Simmonds

I don't watch my Rio races back. I'll look at my London 2012 races a lot. But not Rio.

Ellie Simmonds

I'm lucky I've been able to take control, as an older athlete, and pick who I work with.

Ellie Simmonds

I'm a Scouts ambassador and I help out with dwarf sports.

Ellie Simmonds

I want to go to the Paralympics in Tokyo in 2020 so that's my aim in sport, but what do I want to do after I retire? Do I want to do a normal job? I would like to become a primary school teacher but... it will be totally different.

Ellie Simmonds

I'm a big, big fan of cheesecake, so I love baking that.

Ellie Simmonds

When I bake, I give it to people because when I'm full-time training, I have to really watch what I eat.

Ellie Simmonds

In China they don't mind getting their cameras out, but I try to go with the flow. In countries where there is not so much disability visible on the streets, they want to know who you are and what you are doing.

Ellie Simmonds