‘Liv’ing Her Best Life

A three-page Little Kicks special with world champion freestyler Liv Cooke, presented as a series of quotes on her life. The nineteen-year-old from Lancashire has featured in UEFA’s We Play Strong campaign and the Channel 4 advertisement for Euro 2017, practises five hours a day when training for competitions and runs her own agency for female freestylers. She traces the start to a back injury at fifteen that kept her out for seven weeks, when she began doing tricks in the garden and posting them on Instagram. Her first show was to twenty five-year-olds at a primary school assembly, after which she emailed clubs and performed before 22,000 at Blackburn Rovers. Cooke denies any talent is involved, crediting hard work, refuses requests to freestyle in high heels, and has launched a sports innovation brand.