Dame Kelly Holmes beamed from the podium with Olympic medals around her neck at the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Games, yet concealed deep personal unhappiness that persisted for years.

Olympic Success and Inner Struggles

Despite international acclaim as an athletics champion, honors including an MBE in 1998 for military services and a DBE in 2005 for athletics, plus a successful TV career, Holmes reveals she achieved true happiness only in her fifties. At 55, she shares experiencing self-harm and suicidal thoughts before coming out as gay in 2022 at age 52.

“I only personally feel like I’ve had two or three years of real happiness,” Holmes states. “It’s been three years where I as a person changed, but only two years where I’m in this position where I feel every day is going to matter.”

She wakes up positive daily, committed to making her life fruitful and continuing to evolve. This newfound freedom fuels her vigor heading into her sixties.

“The next ten years can be even better. If you’re in a good place, you want to make the most of it and grab every day with the best opportunity to feel happiness, because I definitely haven’t had that in the past.”

Breakdown After Mother’s Death

Following her mother Pam’s death in 2017—her closest ally—Holmes suffered a breakdown. Pam urged her to live authentically and recognized her mental health struggles from fear of revealing her true self.

“She always wanted me to just be me. She knew how much I was suffering with my mental health, because I was so scared of people really knowing the true me,” Holmes explains. “[When she died], I wasn’t living [my life] because I wasn’t being the Kelly Holmes I wanted to be. I was self-sabotaging to the point where I didn’t want to be here.”

Her proudest achievement now is choosing to carry on. “My proudest moment is being strong enough to want to carry on. I chose life,” she affirms.

Embracing a Second Act

Holmes now embraces her freedom and works as a motivational speaker, inspiring midlife women to discover their second act. She views life as a journey toward authenticity, presence, and self-worth.

“I think life is a journey. [Your] second act is a freedom to be truly yourself, to be in the present and to know your value, your worth. That’s what I want to share with people,” Holmes says.