Non Stanford interview: 'Girls start to grow and boys make comments, which can put them off sport' She puts her victory down to her support and training team, which includes the Brownlee brothers - Jonathan the triathlon gold medallist at the London 2012 Olympics and Alistair who won bronze in the same event. Alongside them she trains for up 35 hours a week near Leeds to prepare herself for the gruelling 1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run which makes up the triathlon. But before the move north, it was the women in her life who inspired her - from her Mum who was a gymnastic coach for the GB team, to double Olympic gold medallist Kelly Holmes who took Non under her wing at the age of 15. Non is clearly a woman with a mature head on her shoulders who says she feels like she is just scratching the surface of her sport and her dreams. She is now looking to the Commonwealth games next year and the possibility of qualifying for her first ever Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. But first back to that winning weekend in London. Crossing that line as ITU World Triathlon Champion, can you put it into words? I can remember running down into the blue path and remember thinking, "you've done it, you're world champion," but at the time I crossed the line it was utter disbelief. Non running down the blue path in Hyde Park to become ITU Triathlon World Champion There's a photo of me on my hands and knees and that's just me trying to take in what's happened and to have two seconds to myself before it starts to go a bit crazy. I'll always remember that moment but I don't think I'll be able to put it into words, what it felt like, it's such a blur. As soon as you finished everything happens in a world wind, you are sort of carried along on this wave of euphoria and excitement. Coming into the final race weekend of the World Series [the world title is decided over a series of races and at each one you win points] you were third in the rankings. How did you feel coming into the weekend? Because it was a home world championship [it was held in Hyde Park] and I was the top ranked Brit going in, and I was in touching distance going in with only 13 point between the three of us, there was a lot of media attention. I hadn't experienced that level of media attention before but I was determined to not let it affect me. I didn't want to be that person that cracked under pressure. I took it all in my stride. How did you keep calm? I'm generally quite a relaxed person around racing. I try not to get too worked up about it. I perform better if I'm relaxed so on race day I'm the one dancing around on the start line and having a good time and chatting to everyone, just trying to enjoy it. You can get so bogged down in it all and I just remind myself that you do it because you love it and have to enjoy it. When did you know you were world champion? When Gwen [Jorgensen - who went into the weekend leading the series] crashed on the bike and Anne [Haug - who had been second] wasn't having a good day I knew it was playing into my hands and when I started running I felt great and I knew that when no one came with me, I thought that if I could keep this going, I knew I was in great shape so I was pretty confident. Has it sunk in? It is still very surreal and it will be for a while. It is something you always dream about. When I was younger you would hold world champions in such high esteem, and think they are these completely unobtainable characters, superhuman and then to suddenly become a world champion - I'm just normal person, I've had a fairly normal life and upbringing. I'm very fortunate that I had a bit of talent but I've worked hard and persevered and have had ups and downs, but it just goes to show that if you stick at something you can do it. But still, this won't sink it for a long time. A year earlier you were crowned Under-23 World Triathlon champion. How, in the space of one year, did you progress to be world champion? Last year, after winning the Under-23 title, I wrote a blog to say that me a long time and a lot of work before I would lose the "under-23." I never dreamt that I would be in this position this year. The biggest thing was I moved to Leeds two years ago to train at the Brownlee's centre they've got up there. London Olympics triathlon bronze medallist Jonny Brownlee (l) and gold medallist Alistair. When I first went up there was a big jump in the volume and quantity and of training. In the first year I was just exhausted trying to get used to it all. I went from doing 20 hours a week to 30-35 hours. It was a big shock to the system and it took me until last winter to cope with all the training and to get the quality out of it. This past winter I was able to adapt and manage and get the most out of it and after Christmas I just started seeing these massive improvements. I started feeling really fit and I also adopted a more professional attitude. You mentioned you have had a relatively "normal" life, going to school and then uni. How did you manage this and fit in all your training? I've been in elite sport since as long as I can remember as my mum was one of the British gymnastic coaches. I trained pretty hard from a young age, as I was first involved in swimming and then switched to running and I was a pretty successful junior runner. Then I came under [Dame] Kelly Holmes' wing at 15 so I have been in this environment for a long time but I still think I managed to have a normal life. I went to uni (Non studied at Birmingham University). Yes I was training but I still went out and partied, had loads of fun and made loads of friends and I think that was good for me as I got it out of my system. I've done it now which has meant I am definitely ready to settle down and concentrate on the triathlon. You speak about your Mum and Dame Kelly Holmes - how did they shape your attitude to sport? Growing up I never thought there was ever anything odd about women in sport. I was brought up around strong female role models as mum was a GB gymnastics coach and both my parents encouraged me to do all sorts of sports such as tennis, ballet and swimming. I didn't really start noticing anything [about girls being uncomfortable doing sport] until I got to secondary school. Girls start to grow and boys start to make comments. That's my first memory that it was unusual that I did so much sport. What were the issues you noticed with girls at school doing sport? In terms of girls in sport I can see why it is difficult. It's that really difficult time when a girl's body starts to grow and change. It must be hard for teachers to handle that and encourage them. The only way is to do things that they enjoy, such as dancing. But when you're making them run cross country, I enjoyed it, but I can understand why other girls didn't love it. Do you think sport should be introduced in schools at a younger age so girls feel more comfortable doing sport when they get older? They do sport in primary schools but it needs to be an integral part and it needs to be normal that kids do sport. After school kids should be doing some form of sport. I think it's sad these days that some kids just do nothing. What do they do with their time? How did Dame Kelly Holmes become your mentor when you were 15? In 2004, before the Athens Olympics, she decided she wanted to give back to sport and decided to take some girls out to a training camp in South Africa. Non, aged 16, with Dame Kelly Holmes She picked girls who were already doing well and brought us along for a day of interviews and so we could meet her. She chose eight of us to take out to the camp after the Olympics but then she went and won two gold medals and we all thought "ah, she's not going to do it now." But a month after the Olympics she took us out to South Africa for a month and from that blossomed the Kelly Holmes initiative. What sort of training and advice did Kelly give you at the camp? She really trained us to prepare for what it would be like as an international athlete. At the time you let it happen and think it's really cool but now I look back and think it was such an important part of my career and such a turning point. It had a massive influence. We did loads of media training. Because there was so much interest around the whole thing, as she was double gold Olympic champion, there were cameras and media there the whole time and that was a stepping stone. She would talk us through it, how to handle it all and also prepared us for what it would be like going to international competition. When you're young you have a backpack with all your entertainment in it and your holdall with all your kit in. But what if that went missing and just have to live on what you have in your backpack for a few days? And that happens you know. You go to a race and haven't got anything and what are you going to do? So I always know to pack trainers and race suit in my backpack. All those little lessons that you didn't really realise you were learning and just thought it was a bit of fun, now you realise. It gave me a slight advantage over young athletes coming in to international sport. I felt I had been here and done this and I'm ready for this pressure and ready for what it's like in the call room. Non is now enjoying a two-week holiday in Italy where she has no intention of doing any training, because she knows that when she gets back, she will be "desperate" to get back to it. Her sights are now set on the Commonwealth games in Glasgow next year, where not only will she be competing in the triathlon, but she is also considering racing in the 10k as well. And beyond that, Non will aim to qualify for the Rio Olympics.