So my name is Yona Knight-Wisdom. I am a former Olympic diver, three-time Olympian for Jamaica and I went to Leeds Beckett. I studied here in 2013 to 2016, graduated in sport and exercise science.
It's obviously a huge honour to be a part of the Hall of Fame induction, especially as one of the, I guess, founding members. It's always, it's remarkable to be involved. Some of the athletes I'm alongside, you know, it's, you can't get that feeling of imposter syndrome. But then I actually think about it and I remember that I've achieved a lot. And then some of the conversations that I have with some of those athletes and they really respect what I've done as much as I respect what they've done. It's, really cool. So, yeah, it's great to have a continued connection with Leeds Beckett and I hope that's something that will just keep on going forward.
Well, by studying sports science, I learnt a lot about the kind of fundamentals behind sport that I might not have known otherwise. Thinking about, you know, the biomechanical side of things, the physiological side of things, the psychology, learning different strategies. That taught me a lot which I could directly apply to my own career. And I think that helped me progress a lot quicker than I would have done if it wasn't for what I learnt here. And you know that that was obviously a bit of what I set up for myself and the way that I wanted to learn things. But also the support from the sports scholarship, the, the kind of multidisciplinary support that I got there, the understanding of S&C, those kind of things, the instructions I had in those areas, it was massively helpful. So always grateful for that.
I'd love to have even more of a close connection in that respect. Like I'd love to be able to come and speak to students and, and maybe mentor or do other things like have a genuine connection where I can contribute to the development of students because, you know, it's great. Yeah. I'm not going to be like a face on the wall and, and someone that they can aspire to you maybe alongside everyone else that I'm with. But it's stepped up to another level if you can actually have that closer connection. So I don't know if that's going to be something that can happen in the future, but you know, it's something that I'll always be open to. I'd love to see Leeds Beckett students continue to thrive and any little contribution I can make to that, it'll be brilliant.
It's been really nicely done. I know a lot of hard work has gone into it behind the scenes and to kind of see it come to fruition tonight, obviously hosted in this amazing building, which I wish I had when I was here as a student. You know, it's really brilliant. And I've enjoyed, you know, listening to the stories of some of the other athletes, some that I didn't know before, but just appreciating kind of what they've been through the different generations and how the kind of story just continues all the way through. Like the fundamental fact that Leeds Beckett have a history of producing some phenomenal athletes. And all those athletes can really give a lot of thanks, Leeds Beckett, for what they've achieved in their sport. So, you know, it's great to be it's great to be a part of that. And yeah, very much enjoyed the evening.
2016
2025
