Melissa Bishop

Fleet-footed world 800m silver medallist Melissa Bishop makes a mean cinnamon bun.

1. I started out as a sprinter

“I came from a sprint background and initially started out as a 100m and 200m sprinter before later moving up to the 400m. I always had a lot of speed. I was the fast girl at school and the boys were always challenging me to sprint races.

“I actually competed at the 2005 World Youth Championships in Marrakech as a 400m sprinter. I didn’t make it past the first round, but that was my event back then. I remember lots about that trip. I remember the olives that seemed to be in all the food and my palette at that point hadn’t extended much beyond my mother’s cooking. I recall eating some fish on the plane on the way home and becoming quite sick.

“Back then I dreamed of one day making the Olympic team and it was the first significant steps on my journey. It was only a couple of years later that I seriously started competing as an 800m runner.”

2. I love to bake

“Since I moved out of the family home to live and train in Ottawa for a couple of years as a schoolgirl, I’ve always been really interested in cooking and baking. My grandma used to be a fabulous baker and my interest was sparked from her.

“My speciality is cinnamon buns. It also is not uncommon for me to come home after a really cool practise and bake some bread. Bread is sometimes tricky to get right and I am careful not to over-knead it as I want to keep it light and fluffy.”

3. I used to step dance 

“My cousin and I used to participate in Canadian step dancing – which is a similar form of dance to Irish Riverdance. We used to perform at shows and local fairs. Looking back at the pictures, I had my hair up in a bun with little frilly white socks. It was the cutest thing.

“I did step dancing right through to high school and I think it taught me good rhythm. My grandma swears that all my track strength came from being on my toes and out of breath while step dancing.

“If I could think of any athlete who would be good at step dancing it would be Mo Farah. He would give it a good shot. Having been around Mo at Nike photoshoots he is one of the biggest kids I know and he would at least convince you that he knew what he was doing!”