One of the great things about the London Olympics has been the opportunity to watch a huge range of sports and witness the success of men and women who weren’t well known to the general public outside their particular discipline and learn a little about them. It’s not surprising that the organisers are so keen to ensure that there is a real legacy for future generations for the games because many of the athletes have battled through disappointments and heartache and demonstrated how a commitment to exercise can build your self esteem and lead to sporting success.

One such athlete is cyclist Joanna Rowsell, who along with her team mates Dani King and Laura Trott won Gold in the team pursuit . It was a stunning victory marked by the fact in 6 races they broke the world record on 6 consecutive occasions. The sheer delight at their achievements, shone from the faces of all three women and those pictures have been beamed around the world as part of Team GBs cycling success. Secondary to Joanna’s success is the fact that since she was 11 years old she has suffered from the incurable condition alopecia and there on the victory rostrum was her bald head on display for everyone to see. In that moment it mattered not a jot – it was the success and the winning that mattered.

However, when she was first diagnosed not surprisingly she struggled to deal with the ramifications of her condition and on a couple of occasions found her hair growing back only to go through the heartache of it all falling out again. Feeling isolated and different Rowsell buried herself in her school work but her salvation came when scouts visited her school when she was 15 and suggested she took up cycling.

She found that she had a talent for it and not only did she find that through this form of exercise she was less isolated, the success she experienced built her battered self-esteem and gave her confidence. She also found that her self-image improved as she was no longer defined by her hair loss but was known for her sporting prowess.

It has also helped her to come to terms with the fact that her condition is incurable and although Rowsell has said she doesn’t want to be seen as some sort of poster girl for alopecia sufferers by showing off her bald head, she has said "I've realised now that I've got maybe a responsibility ...it's always going to be a part of me, so I may as well embrace it and hopefully inspire other girls."

We may not all have the aspirations to be a gold medal cyclist, but Rowsell has shown how exercise not only improves fitness, health and wellbeing, improved self-esteem and self image and how determination, drive and commitment equals success. Joanna Rowsell is an inspiration.