In celebration of the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Paris, GLAMOUR has launched Change The Record, a series dedicated to the women of Team GB, who are flipping the narrative on what it means to be an elite female athlete, from competing on their periods, balancing training with pregnancy and motherhood, navigating body image pressures, and yes, chasing world records.
Here, we chat with Jazmin Sawyers, one of the world's best long jumpers, about her recovery from a severe Achilles injury, why she's tackling the stigma surrounding menstrual health, and how she's using her platform to empower and educate young girls about their periods.
GLAMOUR: Hi Jazmin! Thanks so much for joining us for our Change the Record series. You are one of the most recognisable (and successful) athletes on Team GB. We were gutted to hear about your Achilles injury, which ruled you out of the Paris Olympics. How are you recovering mentally and physically?
Jazmin Sawyers: I'm doing really well. I keep telling people that because it's such a big injury, you see a lot of progress every day. I'm obviously disappointed not to be able to compete this year, but I'm trying to see the positives. I'm looking at the fact that my body's never had a summer off the whole time I've had a career, so maybe that'll be good for all of me and I can come back stronger next year.
You recently partnered with Always as part of their campaign to educate young girls about menstrual health. Why was this project so important to you?
New research by Always sheds light on the challenges when it comes to their periods and sports… almost 2 out of 3 girls admit they experience period anxiety – stress or unease felt before or during your period – that puts them off their game.
It started for me when I was a teenager, struggling with my period and training and feeling like I didn't know how to talk to my coaches about it or that I shouldn't talk to my coaches about it.
In 2017, I had to pull out of a competition because of my period. I posted about it online, which went a bit nuts, and I didn't really expect it to. I realised that this conversation needs to be had more in sport. I knew that at that age, I had such severe symptoms that I almost wasn't able to get out there and compete and thought if I'd been able to speak about this when I was a teenager, I probably could have sorted this out. I wouldn't be going into my competitions with these anxieties.
Periods are a part of every girl and women's life and it's no different for athletes. For years I've been passionate about opening up the conversation about periods and sport which is why I'm just so proud to be join Always as their brand ambassador for their latest campaign, “It’s A New Period.”
What's it like to get your period at a major championships like the Olympics?
At this level, most of us will know early in the year whether or not our period's coming for the championship later in the year. And so we can plan for it because it can affect your body. Everybody's different and not everybody's going to have major symptoms or major differences throughout their cycle, but everyone will fluctuate in the way that their body feels.
At the elite level, pretty much everybody tracks their period, but I think everybody should be tracking regardless of whether they're an elite athlete or not. It can help them learn so much.
When I speak to young girls, they think that they can't do certain things on their period, they think they're not going to be able to perform at their best. And I used to believe that when I was a teenager too.
“My period started as I was going into the call room and I thought, 'Oh, that's it. I guess my chances of this competition are over.' But I won”
I've been on my period for every major championship that I've done. So, Olympics, World Championships, Commonwealth Games, anytime you see me out there competing, I'm on my period. And when I was younger, I think the way that periods were talked about, I used to really think that that would mean I couldn't perform at my best.
The first time it happened, I was a teenager; it was the English school's champs, which was the biggest champs I'd done at that point. My period started as I was going into the call room and I thought, 'Oh, that's it. I guess my chances of this competition are over.' But I won. And I think that's when I started to flip the narrative in my head.
I went to Back to Stoke a few weeks ago with always my home club; we went to talk to them about periods and genuinely had that conversation. And when I told them that I'd been on my period for every major championship I'd ever done, I saw something click. I think that's an important message to get out to girls because we get so much negative wording and speech around periods.
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You've spoken in the past about the assumption that elite female athletes will take medication to stop their periods ahead of major competitions. Do you think there's still an expectation for female athletes to do this?
No, I actually don't think the expectation is there. At the elite level, the option is there – if that's what works for you, but it's no longer an expectation.
But when I've spoken to women and girls who aren't performing at elite level but still want to be involved in sport, but are having period symptoms that prevent that, they're still finding that their GPs are just saying, ‘Oh, go on the pill.’
So I don't think elite sport is a great example of exactly what women are going through in general because we are trying to eke out that absolute maximum out of our bodies. If one doctor doesn't work, I'll speak to one of the four others, but I know that not everybody has that option.
“The earlier that women all learn about our bodies, the better”
Do you think we need more research into how contraception – or any kind of medication – affects the menstrual cycle?
I'd love to see more research. I'd love for all women to have a wealth of knowledge about exactly what we're putting in our bodies. And I would love to see some of that information out in sports clubs because I do think there are a lot of women who are conscious of what's going on with their bodies, who are also active.
The earlier that we can all learn about our bodies, the better; if we can get this research about our menstrual cycles out to young women, then that becomes the norm, and there's a greater understanding, and then it's not even just young women. I think it's really important that men – including coaches and parents – also understand these things so that everybody can have educated conversations.
And finally, is there anything you want to ‘change the record’ on?
I want to change the record on periods being off the record! It’s not just changing the way we talk about periods, it’s talking about them at all, for so much of my athletic career it was taboo to mention my period and how it was affecting my athletic performance, but I want women in sport to be able to openly discuss the menstrual cycle, learn more about their bodies and understand that it can be an advantage if you are able to master it!
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
For more from Glamour UK's Lucy Morgan, follow her on Instagram @lucyalexxandra.
