Team GB medal winner breaks down after sharing heartbreaking note she received from dad before he died
A Team GB athlete has shared the touching note her dad gave her before he passed away.
Lola Anderson, 26, won the gold medal in the women’s rowing quadruple sculls, alongside teammates Georgie Brayshaw, Hannah Scott and Lauren Henry on Wednesday (31 July).
Speaking after their win, an emotional Lola spoke about the team's Olympic victory and what it meant to her.
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"Sorry, it's been ages working towards this," said Lola, who was in tears following the win.
"It doesn't get bigger than this, it's quite overwhelming to just experience this but we're really grateful."
Over 13 years ago, Lola wrote on a piece of paper in her diary that her dream would be to win gold.
She tore the note out and threw it in the bin, but her dad, who believed that she could achieve it, kept the note after he found it while emptying her bin.
The note read: "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."
Months before he died of cancer, Don Anderson gave his daughter, Lola, a note.
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 31, 2024
It was a diary entry Lola had thrown away as a child which said her dream was to win Olympic rowing gold. Her dad had kept it.
She's got her gold medal ❤️#BBCOlympics #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/z0vKX2WvPH
Seven years after she wrote the entry, Lola's dad, Don, handed it back to her.
He had kept it for years, but wanted her to have it back after he was diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Don sadly died of cancer two months later and Lola has treasured the note, which gave her motivation to secure the gold win.
"I know he would be so, so proud, I'm thinking a lot of him right now," she said following the win.
Speaking about the note prior to the victory in Paris, Lola explained she doesn't 'hold on to the note with sadness'.
"I don't hold on to it with sadness, I hold on to it with pride," she told BBC Sport.
"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."
It was actually Don who introduced Lola to the sport, after getting into it himself while at university.
"I very much got into it through my family's love and connection with the sport. I was not very good at it to begin with," Lola added.
"But my dad would encourage me to put myself back in the boat again after each capsize and keep going and enjoy sport for sport, not the results."
Lucy Devine