Ready, Set, Glasgow podcast episode 4: Emily Newnham on how psychology helped boost her performance, junior success and big aspirations

Rising star athlete Emily Newnham is the third guest on the England Athletics Podcast's "Ready, Set, Glasgow" series, inspired by the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

Co-presenters Dan Pembroke - a two-time Paralympic javelin champion - and athletics commentator Alex Seftel ask Newnham to describe an incredible 18 months in which she has won her first senior international medals for Great Britain and reduced her 400m hurdles personal best by nearly three seconds.

Last summer, the 22-year-old won European under-23 gold in that event, as well as the 4x400m relay, before making the world semi-finals individually in Tokyo. It followed a relay silver and bronze at the European Athletics Indoor Championships last March. Newnham has adapted to the biggest stages like she has been on them for years and can pinpoint the moments that changed her mindset, starting with missing out on the podium at the 2023 European Athletics Under-20 Championships.

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"Coming fourth was such a reflection of 'I don't believe in myself, I can't manage nerves, I need to fix this'. I was ready physically to win a medal, I think I had neglected the mental side," says Newnham, who then began working with a psychologist. Together, they invoked an aspect of the drama that she enjoyed as a child and encouraged her to be a confident performer on the track.

From there, her first World Athletics Relays in 2024 provided a great chance to step up. "It was just nice to be around athletes that I want to be like," she recalls. "Being able to talk to them, see them train, see what they eat, see how they function in those championships. It allowed me to get my foot in the door."

But Newnham describes the rest of that year as "really low". Seeking inspiration, she came across a number of quotes, including one comment made by snooker legend Ronnie O'Sullivan about training to dominate. Something clicked. She wanted to work hard enough behind the scenes to make success feel inevitable. 

"I've always been driven by the love of the sport, as opposed to the medals," she explains. "In 2024, that love disappeared. Taking a step back and reflecting on who I am as a person, it allowed me to enter 2025 with this weight off my shoulders."

The rest is history. But it could have all been different. Newnham was a cross country runner, who took part in a hurdles session by chance, when a coach offered to try and improve a bad day she was having. Now, she sits fourth on the UK 400m hurdles all-time list, thanks to a recent personal best of 53.97s in Finland. Yet, there are still moments that bring her back down to earth.

"My first ever European Indoors where I won those medals...I come home, I'm about to go to work, but I'm sat on a bench outside of work and I need to pay my rent and I've got no money in my bank account," she remembers. "I'm sat in the middle of Loughborough, on a bench, crying because I need to ring my dad and be like 'I really need help with rent'. It's just realising that the world keeps spinning."

Her part-time job is an unusual one for an athlete, working at an escape room. "I just really enjoy doing it because I get to work in an environment where no one cares about athletics," says Emily. "They are fun, like enchanted forests. It's nice getting to see customers. You've got little kids coming in for a birthday party and I get to make that happen. Little things like that keep you grounded."

The Shaftesbury Barnet athlete also finds time to discuss her love of colouring, painting and indulging in pies at Wolverhampton Wanderers football matches. The episode is now available to watch on YouTube, as well as listen to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and SoundCloud.