One year on – what’s it like being an Olympic champion?

You have your gold medal adorned your neck as you stand on the Olympic podium.

It’s something you have dreamed of your entire life, hours upon hours of hard work and sacrifice having led to the moment.

What happens when the world’s cameras and attention start to gradually turn away from that moment? There are initial euphoria and celebration.

Hannah Scott tasted gold in Paris when she won the women’s quadruple sculls for Team GB with Lauren Henry, Georgina Brayshaw and Lola Anderson in a dramatic final.

The “huge highlight of my life,” according to Scott, who is also a world and european champion.

“Since I’ve been 12 I’ve always had something in my head about winning an Olympic gold. You never know whether you will get one or not because I was embarrassed, so I wouldn’t even talk about it.

” It’s not something I was certain about, it was just a dream.

Scott had to make a significant decision about her future despite only being 25 at the time.

It wasn’t as simple as taking a break, then jumping in the boat and going again.

Many athletes talk about the struggle they had before reaching the Olympic gold medal goal, because they spent so long trying to achieve it.

” You are kind of like, ‘ what do I do now? ‘ and you must ponder your intentions if you want to return.

The Northern Ireland rower said it” wasn’t an easy decision “and she even tried some work experience to get a taste of the office life.

You must move on and find the next step in order to maintain your own sanity. I’m happy and content with that and I’m happy being back rowing.

“But I had to allow myself some time. I didn’t get back into a boat until around Christmas time and that’s when I found my stride again.

I didn’t know what I was going to do at the time, but I soon realized I missed rowing and the office.

After deciding to return, Scott had a virus that ruled her out of the start of the year but she is set to return to competitive action for the World Championships in September, where she should be reunited with her Olympic team-mates in the women’s quad.

It’s just one of the many “ups and downs” of being an athlete, in Scott’s opinion.

“I don’t think I’m finished yet. She continued, “I want to see what else I can do.”

“It might be great, it might not. However, I’m willing to try because participating in high-performance sports is an addictive experience.

Scott added the response from Northern Ireland was “beyond” what she thought it would be and she is now motivated to “do them proud” after their support.

However, Scott makes fun of one negative aspect of her success: her fame.

“In ways, it was beyond what I imagined, and in other ways it is still another rowing race. These things will never change.

” I didn’t realise how many people cared about rowing. I was unable to enter the store while wearing my dressing gown, which I may have previously done.

“Now, it’s like ‘ that’s the girl who went to the Olympics and won the medal’. That was not what I anticipated.

After a stunning routine, Rhys McClenaghan won the gold medal in the pommel horse final, which was his final gymnastics performance.

He is now, Olympic, world, European and Commonwealth champion.

McClenaghan has been sidelined from recent shoulder surgery and has not competed since winning his Olympic gold exactly a year ago, on August 3, 2024.

” It’s quite ironic how one year ago I was winning Olympic gold and recently I was waking up in a hospital bed, “the 24-year-old said.

It’s been a crazy year, they say. It’s been a year of figuring things out, mentally. I’ve actually accomplished a lifelong dream and childhood dream that has given me so much energy.

“In that one little moment it was done. My brain is still rejigging a lot.

McClenaghan said winning Olympic gold “met every ounce of expectation” and “all the blood, sweat and tears were worth it for that little moment and that sensation”.

The standout feeling for me when I was growing up was that if there was no one watching or watching in the stands, and it was me in an empty room wearing a medal, it would have still meant just as much,” he said.

“For me, that shows I had done the whole journey for the right reason.

“But then I opened my eyes, looked around, and thought about the young gymnasts who were watching, and I realized it was much bigger than just me.

Despite winning everything there is to offer in the sport, McClenaghan says he is motivated by “wanting to be the best”.

He stated, “I want to win a gold medal at every competition I enter.”

“But the main motivation for heading into training every day is that I get to do gymnastics. Over the past a year or so, I’ve come to realize that.

” Even though my goal was Olympic gold, the main thing that brought me to the gym every day was enjoying my sport. “

In a twist on gymnastics, McClenaghan took home the Irish version of Strictly Come Dancing in a contest.

It was a different experience from the pommel horse, but one he says was” pretty cool”.

He said, “I’m not a retired dancer, but it was the perfect combination of doing something different and challenging myself, and also sharing those similarities with sport.”

Since winning gold, he has travelled around Ireland and visited various gymnastics clubs to speak to the stars of the future.

“I was aware of how significant winning an Olympic gold medal was to me growing up,” McClenaghan said.

Daniel Wiffen made history in Paris when he became the first athlete from Northern Ireland to win a gold medal in 36 years when he won 800m freestyle gold in the pool.

With Jack McMillan, Scott, and McClenaghan all taking home gold, it launched a historic run of four gold medals at the Games.

Athletes from Northern Ireland can represent either Team GB or Team Ireland, and the Paris Games brought two gold medals for each.

Being Olympic champion was actually better than I anticipated, according to Wiffen, who also won gold in the 800 and 1500 meters at the World Championships prior to the Games.

” I didn’t really think anyone would care that much when I won Olympic gold. Although I am aware that Tokyo was the Covid Olympics, I don’t think it was covered as much.

“But Paris was insane. After the race, I could not take a step without being stopped by people on the Champs-Elysees.

” Even people recognising the Olympics 12 months on, it’s great to see the sport moving forward and it will stay prominent every year going towards LA, and people will be looking out for athletes at the World Championships or other competitions. “

The 24-year-old took time out of the pool after the Games to travel around Asia, but attentions soon turned to defending his two world titles.

Before the Singaporean Championships, he said, “I’m quite a confident person, so as soon as I came back from Paris I had already written down my goals for the following season.

” It was what I needed to do to win gold at the next World Championships, and what I needed to change. “

After helping Team GB win the 4x200m gold in Paris, Jack McMillan reconnected with the pool in January after a “setup” and took two months off.

The 25-year-old said Olympic glory” definitely lives up to the expectation “but” it’s still something I’m trying to figure out”.

It’s a strange feeling when you reach that Everest, he continued, “when you’ve accomplished something you’ve been training for so long.”

” Part of you is really satisfied but there’s always something that you could still do more or you start to think about other things afterwards.

“I believe that’s the competitive side of things, and why we reach these particular levels. We are always striving for other goals and bettering ourselves.

Despite being Olympic champion, McMillan said the” most pressurised situation “is at the national trials, where you only get” one chance “to swim at international events later that year.

It’s not like what you did last year gave you a smoother ride. You start back to where you were and you almost have to prove yourself again.

Because there’s almost a fear of not knowing how you’ll perform while taking a break, that gives you more confidence.

McMillan won World Championships gold for Great Britain in Singapore on Friday and, speaking before the competition, had said he had been “thinking of other ways to get better” after his Olympic gold.

There is nothing better than that in the sport, according to the coach.

” It makes you reassess and think about what other areas I can get better, rather than thinking ‘ that’s it done’.

“I want to go for specific times for myself, and winning medals at Worlds and Commonwealths will help.”