The 26-year-old taekwondo star Jade Slavin who stands at 6ft 4in has embraced her height after years of bullying.
Jade was offered a place to represent Team GB in taekwondo at the age of 21,
and went on to win the Commonwealth Championships in Glasgow in 2014,
and made two world championships and European championships.
It soon became clear to Jade that it was her height that contributed to her
success in the sport, as she had the leg length that other athletes
longed for. She said:
“One of the main struggles I face is finding clothes to
fit my extremely long legs. Not many shops offer tall sections and if
they do there is not much choice.
“Another struggle is dating as I like boys to be the same height or taller than me and there aren’t many tall boys in my area.”
Jade has now given her words of advice to others who might feel insecure about their height. She says:
“Don’t ever let anyone bring you down. I spent so much time hating myself and would cry to my mum wishing I was ‘normal’.
“But embrace being different. It has brought me so much success being tall which I would not have achieved if I was smaller.
“Embrace who you are and don’t let anybody dull your sparkle.”
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