Welcome to It's Not JUST A Period!

This week, Alexandra sits down with Charlotte Henshaw MBE, paracanoe athlete and Endometriosis campaigner.

Charlotte began her sports career in para swimming and after the 2016 Rio games she moved to the paracanoe where she's claimed the titles of European Champion, ten times World Champion and 3 times Olympic Champion.

In 2013 Charlotte started to experience excruciating pain in her right side and began a long 7 year journey to diagnosis resulting in a diagnostic laparoscopy 8 months before the Tokyo games.

Charlotte walks us through every stage of her diagnosis journey as she describes the challenge of working as a professional athlete whilst living with debilitating symptoms. She navigated numerous investigative dead ends, misdiagnosis' and the withdrawal from competitions.

Together, Alexandra and Charlotte, explore the cultural shifts in women's sport including investing in research and development and using menstrual cycle tracking in training. They discuss the importance of breaking the silence around this condition, the shift in athlete mentality towards vulnerability, and the significance of listening to one's body in training.

This conversation is a call to all future female athletes to empower them to pursue their dreams regardless of health challenges.

For more information on Alexandra or Charlotte, head to the below links:

Charlotte

Alexandra

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