'Self-belief is often mistaken for arrogance' when it comes to champions like Andy Murray and Lewis Hamilton - Christa Ackroyd

Andy Murray did not get off to a good start when it came to garnering support from the whole nation. It was at the beginning of his astonishing career when he was young, naive, unused to facing the cameras and foolishly declared he would be supporting ‘anyone but England’ in some football tournament or other. The nation went wild – or rather England did.

Unpatriotic, screamed the headlines, when actually it was anything but. What was actually a joke which fell flat was perfectly understandable. Just as I would as a proud Yorkshire women back any team or individual from this fair county of ours against any opposition. Andy is a proud Scot, of course he would back his countrymen over ours. Last time I looked Great Britain don’t have a football team – so he would hardly back England would he? But as a representative of Great Britain Andy Murray has been faultless. He has given us of his best and more. He has brought home the Davis Cup, won two Wimbledon men’s finals when we had just about given up and made us fall in love with tennis all over again. And dare I say it he did so in the toughest era in the men’s sport against the very best the game has ever produced.

Yes he has made millions from a sport he loves, which makes his determination to continue all the more remarkable. He has been under the surgeon’s knife repeatedly so he could continue to be a winner. But in doing so he has given us the impossible. We won too. And boy did he put us centre stage in a sport where for decades we had been the also rans. It is among my most abiding memories to have been at the Olympics in London when Murray won gold in emphatic style with a three sets to love victory against Federer. The atmosphere was among the best I have ever experienced. And the first thing I did when that last serve proclaimed him the winner was to call my mum, who was always a tennis fanatic. Her response was: “Wasn’t it just marvellous, I never thought he’d do it.” But that is what makes champions, never doubting yourself when all around you do. That is fortitude, not arrogance.

Arrogance I am sure is a word many have used to describe Lewis Hamilton. But let us look at how he got there.

Lewis’s dad worked three jobs to buy a second hand go cart for the eight year old boy who dreamed of becoming a racing driver. At ten years old he became a champion wearing a second hand racing suit. But on the night he received his trophy he walked up to the then boss of McLaren and told him ‘one day I would like to race for your team.’ In asking him in a jokey way for his autograph Lewis wrote ‘call me in nine years’. Was that arrogance? Or was it simply determination against the odds? Whatever it was it led him to becoming the world’s youngest F1 champion winning repeated championships and making a staggering £300 million pounds in the process, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

Yet for more than two years he has not won a single race. He could have chucked it all in. Instead every day he has got up and trained like a winner. Because he still believed he was one. No wonder he cried at the Silverstone grand prix last weekend. Like Murray in his early days we might have been forgiven for giving up on him. What makes these two men special was that despite the riches, despite the knighthoods, they never gave up on themselves. And took us along for the ride, no matter how bumpy or slippery the path.

So I say this. For arrogance read self belief. For obsession read discipline. For motivation, (and it can’t be simply for riches in the bank) read the need to realise their potential. And boy have both men done that.

The sacrifices they have made are well documented.

As Murray embraced a settled home life with children, Hamilton at 39 says he has no time for that. As Murray faces adjusting to retirement, his body failing when his spirit did not, Hamilton wants more. His hunger is tangible. And that’s what makes him so exciting. I don’t even like Formula One ! But I love watching Hamilton put pressure on the other drivers while putting pressure on himself. Because I love champions. in all walks of life. Those who never give up and never give in. Those who strive to be the best in whatever they do, whether it’s helping others, or lifting a trophy. And both men have done both. Lewis Hamilton has founded Mission 44 championing diversity and inclusion and inspiring young kids from underrepresented backgrounds to take up careers not just in motorsport but in science, technology and engineering.

Andy Murray donated half a million pounds in prize money in one year alone to support children in Ukraine as a UNICEF ambassador saying ‘there are more important things than sport’. He has worked with climate change groups, world wildlife projects and even worn Malaria No More on his all whites.

These men don’t have to. But they do.

I cried for Andy Murray on his retirement from tennis last week while applauding his decision to try just eleven days after back surgery. I cried when Lewis Hamilton lifted the British Grand Prix after so many years of failing when his doubters thought he would never do so again. Because self belief is so often mistaken for arrogance. When it is anything but. Victory comes at a cost to both body and mind, yet is all the sweeter when the path has been hardest fought.

And isn’t that a life lesson for all of us?