Olympic gold medalist Sam Quek has opened up about the struggles she has faced with her identity since retiring from professional hockey.
The sports star, who now works as a broadcaster, retired from field hockey in late 2016, just months after helping Team GB make history by winning gold at the Rio Olympics.
During an illustrious career, she earned 125 international caps for England and Great Britain, before swapping the hockey pitch for the TV studio and building a successful career as a presenter and broadcaster.
But while her career after sport has gone from strength to strength, Sam has admitted that adjusting to life outside sport was not always easy.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, she said: ‘I think the transition from athlete to non-athlete.
‘I think every athlete after an Olympics has a little bit of a comedown and a bit of like, “who am I? What do I do?”‘
Olympic gold medalist Sam Quek has opened up about the struggles she has faced with her identity since retiring from professional hockey
Sam married her millionaire property tycoon husband Tom Mairs in August 2018 after the pair met during a night out at a bar in Liverpool in 2013
Sam continued: ‘As a full-time athlete and a great British athlete, you are in a system where everything is done to help you achieve gold.
‘When you come out of that system, and you’re like, okay, well, I haven’t got a job. Where do we go? What do we do? It can get quite lonely.
‘And I think also, from a physical side being a woman, I think females have a lot of pressure to look a certain way, just in society. And I think even now, sometimes I get worried about that.
‘You know, I will die with an Olympic gold medal list on my gravestone, which I’m so proud of.’
Sam also opened up about the pressure that comes with having achieved the pinnacle of her sport.
She said that she can still feel expectations to look and perform a certain way because of her status as an Olympic champion.
The star explained: ‘Like the amount of pressure I put on myself because everyone’s like, she’s an Olympic gold medalist. And I’m like, 10 years ago. Do you know what I mean?
‘They expect you to look tone they expect you to look slim. They expect you to look strong.
‘It’s just an expectation, but I think a lot of the internal pressure is like, okay, I’m an Olympic gold medallist.’
Sam continued: ‘So I think for me, going through so many body transformations from retirement to then having a child to then having another child very close back together, back to back.
‘I think in terms of physically being able to feel comfortable in my body and feel confident in my body was something that kind of had like an internal monologue.
‘But again, you chat to other people and you listen to other people chat and there’s, I think there’s a lot of positive female reinforcement nowadays.’
The sports star, who now works as a broadcaster, retired from field hockey in late 2016, just months after helping Team GB make history by winning gold at the Rio Olympics
During an illustrious career, she earned 125 international caps for England and Great Britain, before swapping the hockey pitch for the TV studio and building a successful career as a presenter and broadcaster
Sam married her millionaire property tycoon husband Tom Mairs in August 2018 after the pair met during a night out at a bar in Liverpool in 2013.
The couple welcomed their daughter Molly Doris in 2021, followed by their son Isaac Gregory a year later.
Despite both having successful careers, Sam revealed that competition remains a big part of their relationship, even when they are at home.
She said: ‘We get competitive with everything.
‘Whether it’s playing football in the garden with the kids or going to the arcades and playing basketball.
‘Pub quiz, you name it, we are massively, massively competitive. I have a little bit of a lad streak in me.
‘Like I’m a massive Call of Duty player, and I play with him and Tom’s two other friends as a quad and like that is like the height of competitiveness of the time.
‘So yeah, we all we are massively competitive.’
But when it comes to their careers, Sam explained that the couple are very supportive of one another.
She said: ‘When it comes to work, no, again, it’s, you know, when he is thriving and my work’s quiet, everything will go to like his work if he needs this.
‘If I need the extra support, he’ll try and then come over. I don’t ever think we’re both firing at 100%.
‘You know, sometimes I’ll be at 40, or I’ll be at 60 or whatever it is.’
But while her career after sport has gone from strength to strength, Sam has admitted that adjusting to life outside sport was not always easy
Having a partner in a completely different industry has helped Sam to maintain a sense of normality away from the glitz and glamour of showbiz.
She said: ‘Helpful. And helps you kind of remove yourself from, like, the TV world.
‘I mean, I love the TV world, don’t get me wrong. It’s exciting, it’s buoying, it’s showbiz, it’s energetic, it’s so much fun, it’s so creative.
‘But being able to like cut north, be Sam, the mum. Sam, the wife, I really enjoy that.
‘I like having almost like a bit of a separate life away from that, getting to my leggings and my hoodie. Just put me eyebrows on. Have a ponytail in for a week. Do you know what I mean?
‘Because then actually when I go back into TV, I love hair and makeup. I love when I get my makeup done, I love my hair done. I love it going into hair and wardrobe.
‘So yeah, I’m really lucky in that respect and also as well with Tom, he’s just since day one, even before, you know, winning gold, he’s been the most supportive partner.
‘He’s always part of me first and my dreams first ahead of his.
‘So yeah, I’m massively, massively lucky to have a partner like him, you champions me as a woman and then he’s the most amazing dad as well.’
Elsewhere, Sam has teamed up with seltzer brand White Claw to look at ‘friendship recession’ and how hard it is to meet, make and keep friends in adulthood.
More than half (52 per cent) of adults class maintaining friendships as a ‘second job’ and spend more than half an hour a day socialising, according to research.
As part of their partnership, Sam took part in a walk-and-talk event set up by the brands in London.
Speaking about why she decided to take part in the campaign, she said: ‘Everybody has, like, your WhatsApp group where you kind of dip and dip out, but it is like a second job.
‘Because you get up, you do your stuff, you go to work, you might get to the gym or get to the shops, do some shopping and do tea by the time nighttime comes, you put your phone down, and you can’t be bothered with that chat, or you’ll contribute for like 10 minutes.
‘So it is hard.’
Elsewhere, Sam has teamed up with seltzer brand White Claw to look at ‘friendship recession’ and how hard it is to meet, make and keep friends in adulthood
She continued: ‘I think as girls, I think we are really bad at making time for ourselves and going out and having a glass of wine with the girls.
‘Like my husband and I encourage it, I’m always like, go and play paddle and have a pint with the boys, and I encourage that because I think everybody needs it, and probably more guys sometimes that time away to really just be them.
‘Whereas like all my mates over the water in Liverpool, it takes 20 minutes door to door.
‘Like we all see each other as a group once every six months, which is shocking. And like we have the group chat, and we’re in and out, but actually nothing beats the face-to-face dinner, glass of wine, White Claw in the sun, and just two hours of just proper contact and conversation.
‘So I think it is definitely harder as you’re older.
‘I think it’s harder also, as I think as a girl sometimes, because we feel a lot more guilty dedicating that time to our social life.’
It was found that 55 per cent believe being a good friend now takes more effort than it used to, with 41 per cent spending less than 10 per cent of their energy on social connections.
Signs of a ‘friendship recession’ emerged, with 20 per cent saying their friendships aren’t an equal effort and only 23 per cent having people who check in on them unprompted.
What’s more, a quarter socialise less in person than they did a few years ago, with 40 per cent saying they haven’t returned to pre-pandemic social habits.
Psychologist Katherine Templar Lewis, who has partnered with the drinks brand, said: ‘Research shows a friendship recession through a decline in friendship and friendship circles, but what we are really seeing is a decline in the conditions that allow friendship to form: time, proximity, ritual, shared attention and low-pressure togetherness.
‘We are more contactable than ever, but not necessarily more connected.
‘As loneliness increases, we are facing a real challenge, as connection is not a luxury, it is a fundamental pillar of our emotional and mental health.’
This summer, Sam Quek & White Claw invites you to Find Your People. They are on a mission to make 50,000 new friendships through unforgettable White Claw experiences.
Keep an eye out for exclusive perks like festival tickets, exciting local events, special influencer partnerships, and lots more on the White Claw Cliq page (‘Find Your People’ by White Claw Club | CLIQ)
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