Emily Campbell is everywhere at the moment. Not literally, of course – when we speak, she’s in Thailand, focused on the final qualification event in the run-up to the 2024 Olympic Games (we now know she’ll be the sole weightlifter representing Team GB this summer). But back home, you don’t have to look far to see her face up in lights. From featuring in campaigns with Old El Paso, Aldi and Natwest to signing a partnership with the mattress brand Dreams, Campbell has cemented her place as one of Team GB’s biggest stars.

It’s a far cry from the position she was in during the run-up to her silver medal performance in Tokyo, when, despite being European champion, she struggled to get brands to work with her because she didn’t meet the ‘conventional’ image of an elite athlete. Since then, she’s worked with brands such as Nike and Optimum Nutrition alongside her more recent partnerships, as well as getting National Lottery funding that has allowed her to train full-time. 

It’s a success story most athletes can only dream of, but Campbell doesn’t want her story to mark the start and end of change. “It definitely feels like there’s been a big shift, but there’s still work to be done,” she tells Strong Women. “When I spoke out about my experience, it was never about trying to secure sponsorship. Don’t get me wrong – working with a brand and getting free clothes is obviously great, but for me, it was about trying to make brands do better. I had an opportunity to speak and have people hear what I was saying, and I think using my voice in that way is important.”

She continues: “I still have a lot of girls that message me on Instagram telling me they can’t find kit that fits them right – these are problems women are facing every day. But when I first started talking about this issue, people acted like it wasn’t a big deal because they’d never heard anyone speak up about it before. 

“We have come a long way – nobody can say we haven’t. But at the end of the day, we’re all human beings who wear clothes, and we should all have access to clothes that fit us properly.” 

Campbell’s main focus now is putting in the final months of training to prepare for Paris. The qualification process, she says, has been “brutal” compared to previous years, but you wouldn’t guess it from her recent results. Despite struggling with injury, she’s had plenty of success since taking home a silver medal in Tokyo. Last year, she claimed her fourth-consecutive European Championship title, and in 2022 she took home gold for England at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. It’s taken a lot of hard work, but Campbell is excited for people to see what she can do.

“I’m obviously in a very different position this time going into the Olympics,” she says. “I went in before and not very many people knew who I was or knew what I did, but this time I feel like the world’s got eyes on me. It’s very different, but also very welcome – it’s amazing to have people invested in what you do and who you are as a person when you’re getting to do something that you love every day.” 

While Campbell isn’t afraid of the pressure, she’s committed to working hard right up until the last moment. As a self-funded athlete before Tokyo, she was forced to juggle training and work commitments, but that’s all changed since she became a full-time athlete. She attributes her success at the 2022 Commonwealth Games to being able to put her “heart and soul” into her preparation and says training full-time has given her the chance to be consistent and build a routine, which will be her focus again over the next couple of months.

As stands, her week is a combination of technical, strength and conditioning, stability and “classic weightlifting” training. Each day typically focuses on a different section of her technique, whether that’s snatching or power work, as well as some general accessory exercises to boost her overall strength. 

But being a full-time athlete isn’t all about the heavy lifting. Sleep, she says, is key to her success. “Unless I’ve got something that I need to be up for, I try not to set an alarm – I just sleep for as long as my body needs to sleep,” she explains. “After I’ve done my morning training, which tends to be technical-based with some strength and conditioning, I head home for a shower and some lunch before having a nap. I try to keep that nap around half an hour, but sometimes the struggle is real, and I need that little bit more. But I always make sure to nap on top of my duvet with a blanket, because if I get in bed, it’s game over.”

By the time evening arrives, she’s got another training session under her belt and is ready to wind down and head to bed. “My evenings are all about recovery,” she adds. “I’ll have dinner, get in my recovery boots and begin my wind-down process, which involves a shower, my skincare and then getting into bed with my fairy lights on and having a pre-bed snack. By 10.30pm, my lights are usually off – and I tend to sleep through the night.

“I know I sleep a lot, but I also know that full-time training is just as much about what happens outside the gym as inside it. I have to make sure those outside factors – sleep, nutrition, recovery – are bang on the money, because that’s what makes the difference between being a good athlete and being a great athlete.”  

If one thing’s for sure, Campbell has got her head in the game. She’s very aware of how many people look up to her, and while being a role model was never her intention, she’s taking things in her stride. “I was always taught by my parents to speak up when you feel things aren’t right and to try to make a difference, and to have people respond to me and my message so well has been amazing. I want people to know that I was always 100% authentically me, and that I fought for the things I believed in and wanted to achieve.

“At the end of the day, we all want to wake up every day with purpose and have the confidence to get out there, and if I can help people with that in even the tiniest way, I’ll feel happy that I’ve done my job.” 

Dreams is the sponsor and Official Sleep Partner of Team GB and ParalympicsGB. For more sleep-related tips and expert advice to help you get a good night’s sleep, check out Dreams Sleep Matters Club. For further information on Dreams’ Official Sleep range in partnership with Team GB visit the website.

Images: Getty/Dreams