Kimberley Woods fell off a high ramp into the rough waters in her sleek kayak. As the rain descended relentlessly on London’s Lee Valley White Water Center last September, Woods faced pristine conditions and the demons of her past on the course where she became a world champion. In less than five months, she aims to win gold in the wild and joyous event of the Paris Olympics and complete an uplifting story of hope and healing.
Woods has endured years of bullying, depression and self-harm, and the 28-year-old slalom kayaker has a good chance of winning an Olympic medal in the K1 class. But the dangers are most acute during kayaking crossings.
On Monday, in one grueling practice session after another, Woods defended herself from her teammates as they replicated the bullying tactics she would have experienced as the world’s No. 1 in Paris. Opponent’s paddles and boats pounded against her, but Woods powered forward, over heavy buoys, flipped underwater Eskimo rolls, flew through rapids, and finished within a minute of power and skill.
Woods has experienced too many things in her life. When she came out of the water, she jokingly put the boat on her shoulders and trudged to the ramp more than two meters above the water in the pouring rain. She and three other athletes would once again line up on the ramp, waiting for an electric shock that would, without warning, launch them into a foamy rapid.
Two hours later, as she was talking about her past adversity in a quiet cafe, it all made sense. Woods was born in Rugby in 1995 and one of her earliest memories is of an apparent drug raid on a neighboring house: “I remember looking out the window and seeing a SWAT team rushing in. I lived like this The community was a little crazy. But when I go home now, it’s very different.”
Woods, who was naturally gifted in sports, said wryly, “I was that annoying kid who wanted to try everything.”
Canoeing became an early obsession. “My grandparents got me into the sport,” Woods said. “In 1994, the year before I was born, my aunt Diane won a silver medal at the Junior World Championships. When I was young, I I was amazed watching this recording. There was a picture of me in canoe gear that I watched on TV and it was so big. I was four years old.
“Obviously you have to learn to swim 50 meters before you can get on a boat. So my grandparents said, ‘As long as you do that, we’ll find you a boat.’ “I was eight years old when it happened and I was hooked. I was lucky enough to have my first junior worlds right where my aunt won medals. I won three medals and finished fourth.”
At the same time, Woods was systematically bullied at school because of his physique. “I had it most of the time. I was like, ‘So what? I need strong arms to play sports. But of course, I wouldn’t feel comfortable around girls and women who didn’t look like that. I cried a lot of times on the way home.”
She was bullied between the ages of 8 and 14, Woods said: “I would love to talk to them now and see where they’re at because I’m going to my second Olympics. But I was a bully’s dream because they Always getting a reaction out of me.”
Woods couldn’t share her trauma with anyone. “I took care of it myself. My parents were always busy taking care of me when I came home [three] brothers and sisters.I made sure I kept a straight face because I didn’t want anyone to see me [crying]”.
This tendency to internalize pain resurfaced in 2015 when Woods was forced to stop canoeing with a torn ACL. She felt bereft and began cutting herself. “My only way out at the time was to self-harm,” she says quietly, “and it was hard to break the habit. Once things got difficult, that was my immediate reaction because physical pain was easier than emotional pain. I kept everything to myself and hid it.”
But she couldn’t hide the truth for long. “I lived in a house with other kayakers and I remember one day I rolled up my sleeves and did the dishes. They saw my arms and everything went quiet. I was like, ‘I’m going to do this real quick. A little and hide. “We were in the same training group, I’m not sure if they talked to Craig Morris [her coach].
“It took a while for Craig to talk because he wanted to approach me in the best way possible. I remember we sat down and he said, ‘Are you okay? Do you need help?’ I broke down and admitted it. Everything and lifted a huge burden off. I am so lucky to have Craig in my life. He is also a father figure as I am not close with my family and see Craig almost every day. From He’s been coaching me since I was 15.”
Was she intimidated when Morris spoke to her, despite his gentle manner? “I can feel it building up, but I don’t know what I’m afraid of because I know he won’t judge me. He’s a really good guy and a great coach.”
Morris helped her start counseling, but the cutting continued. “I never did much in the summer,” Woods said. “I would get my vitamin D from the sun and it would be much better in the summer. But I was self-harming on and off for three or four years. Most of the time I was training well and I had a really good year in 2016, and went to the Rio Olympics as part of Team GB’s ambitious plans. I won more World Cup medals and became European Under-23 Champion, but internally it wasn’t great.
“Self-injury was still happening, and I would go to my teammates after games and ask, ‘Do you have compression sleeves?’ It was hot, so I didn’t want to wear a sweater. I got some weird looks, but he didn’t ask questions. I know deep down that he knows.”
Woods said the cut “was mainly on my arm. But then I figured out a way to do it on the upper thigh and I thought: ‘If no one can see it, no one will ask questions. .'”
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Woods twice entered a monastery. “I hated it so much the first time and didn’t want to go back. I did well that season, but as soon as winter came I wanted to go to the monastery again. I was paired with other people and understood why they wouldn’t let me take medication. This It’s nice because people think that if you’re sick, you get medicine and they say, “See you later.” “But they saw that I was willing to do the work and accept the help. I went for six months — but not full time.”
At the lowest point in her life, Woods “considered ending her life many times.” Not a single situation came close to happening. I just thought it would be easier to get away with it, but it’s so hard for me not to think about other people. “
She said: “It’s been a long time since I [self-harmed].The last time was after a game, before the Tokyo Olympics [in 2021]. After COVID-19, competition has become overwhelming again. However, since then, I have adopted different strategies to avoid self-harm. I also wear a hair tie around my wrist that changes my senses with just a flick. Sometimes I just need to cry for a while or talk to my partner Elliot or Craig and we work things out together and I feel at peace. “
The Tokyo Olympics are still a test, with Woods finishing last in the K1 final. She was filmed “ugly crying on TV” but described her “favorite photo from that Olympics”. It was my teammates and Craig supporting me. I learned a lot, but most importantly, don’t be too hard on yourself. The next few months were really difficult, but I told myself: “No matter what happens, I will go to the first training session.” I hated it and cried the whole time. But I did it, which was important because we had the World Championships that year. “
Despite suffering a serious car accident shortly before the World Championships, Woods showed her resilience by winning the bronze medal. “The accident was horrific. My ankle was severely injured, but I managed to get out of my wheelchair, use crutches and use an ice machine. I was determined to compete.”
At last year’s world championships at Lee Valley, Woods became “the third woman to qualify for C1” when she won silver in the C1 category behind teammate Mallory Franklin. [canoeing] Won three different ones in history [world championship] Medals in three different disciplines.But the progress of K1 is not smooth [and she failed to make the final]”.
Despite being troubled by his Olympic placing, Woods was bossy as he entered the canoe cross finals, “Coming out of the last one and saw another girl walking to the other side of the river and I was in faster water. , and I was like: “This could actually happen. ” The last door was tricky, so I thought: “Breathe.” “When they knew I was done, everyone started cheering. It was funny because my mouth was open and I was like, ‘I did it! Oh my God!'”
That girl who had been bullied for so long, that young woman who had mutilated herself for many years, turned out to be a world champion. She quickly jumped back into the water to hug her teammate, Joe Clarke, who won the gold medal in the men’s canoe cross race. “Joe has always had my back. He’s like a big brother and the male version of me. He has so much grit and determination and is in a much better place now than when he won the Olympic gold medal [in 2016]”.
The British kayaking team has impressive medal chances in all six events in Paris. “We have two Olympic medalists, Mallory and Joe, and we have three world champions, me, Joe and Mallory. I feel good about us.”
As for her own prospects of winning two medals and at least one gold, Woods said: “I’ll print a replica of the Paris medal and see. At Worlds, I printed the medal before the competition and I won first gold medal [canoe] team work. So I replaced the printout with a real gold medal. It would be great to do that in Paris. “
She smiled and pulled out her phone to play the video she had asked me to take of her a few hours earlier. After training, she and The Guardian’s Tom Jenkins decided to have some water fun while taking her photo. There was a lot of hilarity then, but now, we’re seeing something different.
When Woods got wet for the first time, she instinctively closed her eyes and laughed. But in the final video, she’s undaunted. Woods’ eyes widened as the water bounced off her. In the light of the liquid, her eyes shone with steel and gold.
