OLYMPIC star and alpine skier Chemmy Alcott inspired youngsters at a Women and Adventure Festival.

Chemmy was the keynote speaker at the festival and opened the three-day event which celebrated adventure literature, film and outdoor challenges.

The four-time Olympic medallist told of her career, learning to ski aged just 18 months and making her Olympic debut at the Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2002.

She also spoke of a training accident in 2011 where she sustained a double fracture of the right leg, her recovery and participation as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2012 and her sporting comeback at the Sochi Olympics.

Explaining how her mindset can affect performance, she shared advice given to her by her coach. She said: “He said to me: ‘Chemmy, today you have a choice. You can either choose to be fast or you can choose to be scared.’”

She added: “People in a fixed mindset believe you either are or aren’t good at something, based on your inherent nature, because it’s just who you are. People in a growth mindset believe anyone can be good at anything, because your abilities are entirely due to your actions.”

Chemmy described how fear had often blocked her performance – fear of failure and fear of injury – but the growth mindset was helping her overcome these fears.

Aspiring athlete and Year 12 student Georgie Lane said after the talk: “She proved that if you really believe you can do something, you can achieve your dreams.

“Her words have motivated all of us to push ourselves beyond our comfort zones in whatever our passion may be, whether this is music, sport or art. We all gained a lot from Chemmy’s experience, including the value of growth mindsets and the need to cope with setbacks and failures.”

School librarian Rachel Knight, who organised the festival, said: “The Women and Adventure Festival has enabled the girls to read and hear a wealth of inspirational stories about endurance, strength, resilience and positivity.

“Chemmy’s speech really was a wonderful and captivating start to our weekend – the girls have been talking to me about it all morning.”