‘Only once’: how England Women’s Football icon Fran Kirby constantly bounced back to become a symbol of strength and resilience

Since she was a young girl, Fran Kirby dreamed of becoming Olympian.

Establishing itself in football was not necessarily a traditional route to do this, but nothing would scare the charismatic English forward to reach the highlight of the sport.

It was a dream that was shared Her deceased mother Denise – A note etched in a birthday card that inspired a ruthless push to reach the world stage.

Four years ago, against all opportunities, Kirby achieved what she wanted to do by representing Great Britain in Tokyo 2020, held in 2021.

‘I was so proud [to represent her country]; It was always a dream, ‘the Team Visa Athlete exclusively told Olympics.com During the recent UEFA Ladies Euro 2025 tournament in Switzerland.

“It came to a point where I didn’t care if I played or not, I wanted to be there and be considered an Olympian – that was enough for me.

‘[Competing in Tokyo] Was a really proud moment for me. “

If those competitions had continued as planned, the 32-year-old would have demonstrably missed her only chance to compete at the Olympic Games.

At the end of 2019, the Brighton Forward collapsed into what would be a frightening test, later diagnosed pericarditis. The condition causes inflammation around the heart, making the former English international in the possibility of hanging its boots rather than planned.

But just as she has done so often in both life and sport, Kirby bounced back.

The delayed spectacle, which she recognizes as a “terrible time” for everyone during the Covid-19-Pandemie, offered her the schedule she needed to slowly but surely work back to fitness.

While the world came to a halt, the midfielder found her feet again – gradually back to exercise, run and finally the field.

“It was a terrible time for so many people, but it gave me a chance to train and get myself in the best place for the Olympic Games,” she said.

‘Through that period when I was very, very sick … I didn’t really see there was a chance [of playing football again]; Just be able to run again and train again [was a big thing].

“To go through that and at the end it became an Olympian – it gave me the feeling that everything I had done in the past year was worth it until the moment because I could get there and reach my dream.”