The Olympic medallist and former world champion javelin thrower, now a reality TV star, Fatima Whitbread, was abandoned in a flat at three months by her mother and left to die. She was raised in care, raped at 11 and adopted at 14.
Whitbread may not initially appear to have much in common with the indomitable Deborah James, “Bowelbabe”, podcaster and author, who was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer at the age of 35, and lived a further five years, writing powerfully about navigating the cancer that killed her, raising funds and encouraging thousands to seek help early. Yet what the two women share is resilience, grit and an understanding of the power of persistence that adds up to so much more than the ability to pass a maths test at the age of 18.
