My hero: Pickering on Lance Armstrong

Top British sprinter Craig Pickering talks about the profound impact Lance Armstrong has played on his career.

"The person I most admire would be Lance Armstrong because I’ve had some people around me die of cancer. I admire him because he came back so much stronger. I like his whole attitude. He doesn’t take any crap and just gets on with it through hard work, which is similar to the attitude I take through life.

"I first became aware of Lance Armstrong when I was in sixth-form and my friend was reading his autobiography. I just picked it up during a free period and I finished it within about 12 hours. It is an amazing book. I don’t follow cycling all that closely but his first book It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life is amazing. He has also written a second book, too called Every Second Counts, which I really enjoyed.

"If things are not going that well in athletics I have to remind myself that he had a really bad time in his life and he came through the other end to be the best in the world. So sometimes I read it if things aren’t going that well.

"One of my uncles, who was a big fan of mine, died of cancer just before I won the European Junior 100m title in 2005 and it was quite a hard time. I wear a yellow wrist on my band every time I compete which reminds me that no matter how harsh things are somebody is always worse off."