About Me
The Olympic Dream
My
Big,
Hairy, Audacious, Goal
Thanks to the support of my PE teachers Pete Smith and Clive Smith, I developed my talent as first and outstanding young Athletic Talent before going on to achieve my OLYMPIC B.H.A.G.
I won my first national title age 14, and over the following five years set a series of records, won multiple national championships and received my is first senior international honours while still attending school.
Aged 19, I won a sports scholarship to Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas; USA. where I graduated with my degree in 1988 and in the same year qualified to represent GB in the Seoul Olympics.
My greatest sporting achievement was finishing 13th at the 1988 Olympics as the top of three British competitors representing GB,.and I finished my international career in 1992 by topping the rankings as GB’s #1 Triple Jumper indoors.
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Early Beginnings
I started out in life as an “underdog” being born in the inner-city neighbourhood of St Pauls. Bristol – at the time a run-down part of the city that had been heavily bombed during the war.
Being black meant being denied full access to economic and social capital necessary “to make things happen”. Like many of the so-called “Windrush generation”, my parents arrived in Bristol In the 1960’s and found living conditions and employment prospects were far from conducive to realise dreams of a better life for themselves and their family which had been promised by the British government on their recruitment drive to rebuild Britain after the second world. war.
Add to my initial economic and social disadvantage the further setback of poor physical health and low academic achievement in early childhood and I was on a trajectory of underachievement and disappointment.
Change Was Part of My Heritage
Being Left Out Was Never An Option
“Daring to push back against the exclusion of racism in workforce and society drove my parents to work extremely hard to navigate a course of challenge and change that gave me a fighting chance to advance my life chances and choices.”
Change Your World, Change the World
Passion and Excellence brought success through honest work..my parent’s led by example : My dad was Bristol’s first black bus driver and my mum became one of the first Black manager of a residential home for seniors. Their actions became and inspiration to me as a young teenage athlete. Their influence giving me the courage to overcome many setbacks including bullying at school, serious respiratory problems. Through sport I was able to channel my frustrated energies into constructive achievements.
“Consider the humble Tortoise it only makes progress when it sticks its neck out.”
Anonymous
