Lola Anderson: Team GB rower’s gold medal diary note found in bin by late father

As Helen Glover and Heather Stanning crossed the line to win gold at London 2012, an inspired young rower grabbed her diary and scribbled a short entry:

“My name is Lola Anderson and I think it would be my biggest dream in life to go to the Olympics in rowing and if possible win a gold for GB.”

Embarrassed, she tore the page out, threw it in the bin and forgot about it.

Seven years later, her dad Don reached into his safety deposit box and handed the note back to her, having found it while emptying her bin.

He had stored it away and kept it the whole time. During his terminal illness, he wanted her to have it back.

Don Anderson died of cancer two months later. The note is now her most treasured possession and gave her the motivation to follow her dream and qualify for the Games in Paris.

“I don’t hold on to it with sadness, I hold on to it with pride,” the 26-year-old, who rows for Leander Club in Henley-on-Thames, told BBC Sport London.

“All parents love their children beyond the world, and he obviously had that belief in me from when I couldn’t see it myself.

“It’s my most important possession that I own now. It’s just a piece of paper but it’s the value that he put in it that makes it so special to me.

“He didn’t have to take it out of the bin. At first maybe he thought it was a bit funny and it would be sweet to hold on to and give back to me one day, regardless of what happened.”