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How student midwife became a European champion

Ian HaslamNorth West
BBC Success Eduan has long brown hair which is braided and tied back in a pony tail. She is wearing a dark red top and is standing on a blue running track while smiling for the camera.BBC
Success Eduan said combining athletics and university "took a lot of determination"

Getting to the top in any sport involves not only talent but also huge dedication and personal sacrifice.

Something the aptly named Success Eduan knows all about.

After reaching the individual 200m final at the recent European Championships in Birmingham, the 21-year-old athlete from Manchester won gold in the women's 4x100m relay.

Unknown to many, though, Eduan combined her gruelling training regime with completing a three-year degree in midwifery.

PA Four female athletes wearing blue Great Britain running vests and shorts stand on a blue athletics track holding Union Flags.PA
Eduan won gold in Birmingham

"It took a lot of grit, a lot of determination," the sprinter told BBC North West.

"There [were] times where I've not been able to fully train, just because mentally I'm exhausted from night shifts or from exams and things like that."

She said not many people in the athletics world knew about her midwifery career, and vice-versa.

"A lot of people were kind of thinking 'Oh my gosh, where is Success?' and things like that, but that's because I'd been on shifts, I'd been on placement.

"I thought 'OK, I need to make it clear to people that I am studying.

"So now it's all intertwined, I'm not incognito anymore."

Success Eduan Success Eduan takes a selfie in a lift while wearing a midwife uniform while holding a pink bag and a large cup.Success Eduan
Success Eduan combined midwifery shifts with her athletics training
Eduan is wearing a dark red sports t-shirt and leggings and headphones while pulling a exercise band across her body and looking to the side.
Sprinter Success Eduan said she wanted to perform "at the highest level"

Eduan's coach Clovis Asong praised her commitment to both her training regime and study commitments.

"Three hours of sleep and then she's down there training, then she goes home, a little rest - sometimes not even a little rest - and then go straight down to a night shift," he said.

"I'd tell her every time, 'I don't know how you do it' because it's hard."

He said now she was focused on training full-time there were "great things ahead".

"I think the last three years have definitely been a success, especially when I'm going to be able to graduate as a fully qualified midwife," Eduan said.

"I'm really proud of myself for that, but I want to focus for the time being on being an athlete."

Eduan said she drew inspiration from her "very strong, very determined" mum.

"I want to make sure that I give myself the best chance to perform at the highest level," she said.

"This sport is quite short-lived, you're not here forever."

Clovis Asong has mid length hair and is wearing a black hooded jumper. He is standing on a blue athletics track and is smiling at the camera.
Eduan's coach Clovis Asong said the 21-year-old had "great things ahead"

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