London, June 3 (ANI): Olympic cycle-racing champion Joanna Rowsell, who was once too shy to socialise, has revealed that her love of sport forced her into the limelight.
The 23-year-old lost all her hair at the age of ten through alopecia areata, in which the immune system attacks the hair follicles, causing it to fall out.
It left her lacking confidence, too embarrassed to mix socially and too self-conscious about her looks to experiment with make-up and clothes.
Instead, she buried herself in her schoolwork and sports.
But now, with team-mates Danielle King, 21, and Laura Trott, 20, Rowswll is tipped for gold in the team pursuit event at the London Games.
"Obviously we'd love to win a medal. We as a team will just do our best," the Daily Star quoted her as saying.
"I can't think too much about where we'll place. I'm not feeling nervous or confident, really. I'm just concentrating on my diet and training," she said.
With a home Olympics, the focus on her and the rest of Team GB is more intense than ever. It's something that would have sent her running scared in the past.
"If I had been told years ago I would be doing this, it would have terrified me.
"But I've been forced into the limelight. It helped me deal with it and become more confident in myself.
"People have been really -supportive and I've taken that as inspiration," she said.
She and her teammates won gold at the UCI World Cup in February.
Joanna also won the individual pursuit final and became an icon the moment she stepped on to the podium, beaming.
She also became a role model for alopecia sufferers.
"I didn't set out to be an inspiration.
"It's been a bit weird dealing with that. I'm not trying to make a statement.
"I was standing on the -podium as just me.
"But I hope other alopecia sufferers will see that it shouldn't stop you from achieving your dreams.
"I've had quite a few messages from parents whose daughters have got alopecia, saying 'It's great for my daughter to see you on TV like that. Now she's not so scared to go back to school'," she said.
Rowsell battled with her self-esteem for years. When she was nine, her eyebrows fell out, followed by her eyelashes. A year later, her long auburn hair fell out in clumps. It grew back and fell out twice more, when she was 16 and 19.
"It was really hard to deal with.
"I didn't go out. I didn't want to meet new people. I shied away from anything like that.
"As a teenager I wasn't into make-up and that sort of thing. I didn't see the point," she added.
Her boyfriend is former cyclist Dan Shand, 24, who she met at a racing event in Belgium. (ANI)
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