Katy Barden talks to the two-time Olympian about embarking on a coaching career after competing at the sharp end of middle-distance running
Two-time Olympian Laura Weightman – a multiple medallist over 1500m and 5000m at the European Championships and Commonwealth Games – retired from competition in September 2023 after a challenging few years dealing with injuries, surgery and extensive rehabilitation.
A sport and exercise science graduate from Leeds Beckett University, the 34-year-old now works as an endurance coach within the Leeds Talent Hub and as a junior athletics co-ordinator (managing a Leeds Beckett-based athletics programme for children aged 8-16 years), in addition to supporting athletes on England Athletics’ Youth Talent Programme and Great Britain and Northern Ireland teams on training camps and at championships.
A member of UK Coaching’s Women in High Performance Coaching Programme, Weightman currently coaches athletes including Olympic 1500m silver medallist Laura Muir and Great Britain and Northern Ireland age-group internationalists Sam Mills (track and cross country) and Isla Paterson (mountain running). She also applies her passion for sport and people through her work as a performance lifestyle advisor, supporting athletes to balance their sporting ambitions with education and life beyond sport.
How did you first get into coaching?
I was still living at home [in Alnwick] at the time and Alnwick Harriers started up a junior section. I did my first qualification focused on coaching children in athletics before I went to university. I think that’s what sparked my interest in the qualification process.
I did my coaching assistant qualification through On Camp with Kelly [a mentoring and education initiative for junior middle distance athletes established by Kelly Holmes] around 2010 and I went on to get my full coaching licence a few years later. I was just interested in helping people and I was interested in the sport itself. As a full-time athlete it was a real privilege to have the time and space in my week to do that, and I felt that it was really important to set myself up for the opportunity to go into coaching.
Once I gained my qualifications I started helping a few of my friends at university who’d asked for a bit of advice and guidance. I kept it at club level at that point because I was training and competing myself so I wasn’t always around.
In the latter part of my career I got an opportunity to coach with England Athletics’ Youth Talent Programme which I really, really enjoyed. Alongside that, I did my performance lifestyle qualification which gave me additional insight and knowledge and contributed to a more holistic approach to coaching. Those experiences were really valuable when I transitioned from athlete to coach.
Had you always planned to move into coaching once you retired?
Throughout my career I was always someone who naturally wanted to help others. Even when I was training and competing myself I’d find myself having conversations with other athletes and wanting to help and support them if they asked questions on training camps or at races.
I never imagined myself not being involved in athletics or sport after I retired, although I didn’t know exactly what that role would be. I prepared myself by following the things that I was passionate about, doing my performance lifestyle qualification, doing my degree in sport science, doing my coaching qualifications. I wanted to give myself a platform of experiences that would allow me to step into something that I was interested in.
How would you describe your coaching philosophy?
At this stage I’m learning so much every day that my philosophy is constantly evolving. The most important thing for me is to put the person first before the athlete, and I’ll always want to help the individuals I’m working with no matter who they are and what their aspirations and goals are. I like to spend time with people and have conversations, so it’s not just about athletics, it’s more of a holistic approach to life and coaching.
In terms of my broader coaching philosophy, I’ve had some great influences throughout my own career, but I’ve also been in a unique position where I’ve spent time travelling the world racing and training and, in doing so, I’ve been able to observe so many different coaches in different environments. I feel like I’m already coaching slightly differently to how I trained because I’m learning from those around me.
My coaching philosophy will continue to grow and develop, and that’s how I want it to be. At this stage in my coaching journey I want to be an open book and to learn and absorb as much information as possible. Every day I have different conversations with different people across a variety of sports and I’m really enjoying the opportunity to connect and develop broadly as a coach and then applying that into my own coaching day to day. I’m just really excited to keep learning.
Who has been your greatest coaching influence?
I’m so lucky to have had two coaches throughout my career, my Morpeth Harriers club coach Mike Bateman and Steve Cram. Mike taught me so much. He set me off on the road to become an athlete and taught me about working together in a fun club environment. I’d spend Monday night with my friends running around a housing estate doing relays – the session would be hidden in the relays, so that taught me about how training can be fun and how all abilities can work together.
And I’ve been so fortunate to work with Steve and to learn from what he did throughout his career and how he applied that to working with me. We both learned so much from that process – for example how, as a female athlete, I couldn’t just replicate exactly what he did as a male athlete – and that’s something I’ve now applied to my coaching.
I also look and reflect on the impact of my wider team in Leeds. My sports psychologist had a significant impact on my career at the time but also now as a coach in terms of how I frame things. I see that as a really valuable asset in my coaching toolbox. Andy Henderson (Head of Athletics at Leeds Beckett and Head Coach of Leeds Talent Hub) and Andi Drake (Leeds Talent Hub Manager) have also been a huge support and have enabled me to grow and develop as a coach within the Talent Hub environment.
Every coach and every person in your support team brings a different strength and skillset. I worked with a predominantly male team throughout my career but I had a female physio (Alison Rose). Working with Alison was really important for me because she gave me some of the support I needed around certain things that maybe others couldn’t. It’s important for athletes to feel like they have the right support from the right people when they need it.
You coach a range of athletes with varying levels of experience, how do you bring everyone together?
It’s been such an interesting process. Obviously Laura [Muir] is a former team-mate and she’s one of the best in the world, while Isla [Paterson] – 15th overall and first Brit (U20) at the 2025 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships – is a young student who is still quite a raw talent. They’re very different, but they’re still people before athletes so it was important for me to understand what they needed from me. With Isla in particular it was just getting to know her.
Isla and Laura have spent some time together this year, which has given them an opportunity to connect; they might not do track sessions together, but they’ll warm up together and do drills and strides. Isla can learn from Laura and there are other people around for Laura to train with too, so it creates a really nice atmosphere of friendship and shared learning. We can all connect and work together in different ways and I think creating those sorts of environments – where it doesn’t matter who you are, what you’ve achieved or what stage of the sport you’re at – can benefit everyone.
How have your own experiences as an athlete benefited you as a coach?
I feel so lucky that I had the career that I had, but I also feel lucky that I had the experiences that I did and I apply those experiences to my coaching every single day. While I understand the highs that athletes are going through I very much understand the lows too, and that really helps when you’re having hard conversations with athletes when things haven’t gone quite to plan.
It might be the empathy or the reassurance that I’ve been there and they’ll get through it, but that lived experience can bring a conversation to life and help athletes better understand what’s going on.
Have you faced any challenges as a young coach in the sport?
I think there’s sometimes an assumption that as a retired athlete (or as a female) you’ve been given an opportunity or an unfair advantage, but you’ve got to do the work behind the scenes to be in a position to coach successfully in different environments. I feel like I’ve earned the opportunities I’ve been given because I’ve followed the right path and I’ve gained the right experiences. A good athlete won’t necessarily make a good coach; it’s a very different skillset.
What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned in your coaching career so far?
It’s been a real privilege to retire, to still be in the sport and to say work is coaching. It’s challenging, it’s rewarding, it’s emotional, it’s hard, it’s all the different emotions you might experience as an athlete, but in a totally different way.
I think the most valuable lesson I’ve learned so far is to take a step back when things go wrong and to remind myself that I can’t always control things, like when an athlete picks up an injury or a race result doesn’t go quite the way we expected.
It’s just taking a moment to pause and reflect and not to be too hard on myself. We can’t control every little thing that happens and that’s okay. Inevitably mistakes will be made and things won’t always go well, but that all becomes part of the learning process. I’m constantly learning every single day and I think that’s the most important thing for me, to keep learning and never stop.