(WORDS OF OLYMPIANS)
(KRISS AKABUSI 29 NOV 1958)
(START)
(LEVEL 1 - ORIGINS)
(LONDON, 1960S)
My mother and father are from Nigeria.
They came to the UK in the 1950s.
In '62, they went back to Nigeria
and my mother and father lost contact with me.
I was brought up in a children's home.
Initially, I cried a lot.
When I got to 12, I realised I had to be self-sufficient,
that within me,
there was enough to survive.
I built on that surviving to thrive.
I had this mindset
that enabled fear to work for me.
For some people, fear holds them down.
They can't move.
But fear released me so that I didn't die.
(LEVEL 2 - TRAINING)
I joined the army in '75,
and I met a guy called Sergeant Ian Mackenzie.
He was the athletic officer in my very first unit.
He was the one who saw in my sports that I had potential.
He also logged all my successes
and told everybody about it.
All of a sudden, I was getting positive affirmation,
not just from him,
but also my colleagues and peers in the army base.
The training is arduous.
It's endurance-based.
It's speed-based.
There was discipline, and I needed discipline.
The army's not for everybody, but it was my cup of tea.
I spent four years getting ready for the Olympic Games.
(YOU MADE IT!)
(LOS ANGELES 1984)
It's Hollywood!
They do things large, brash, big, bold,
and in Technicolor!
I was a young man, 25 years of age.
I'd never, ever crossed the pond before.
Moonwalking everywhere.
You got the jet-pack man flying in.
It was just crazy!
And here I was, in the middle of it.
I'm an English boy, fish and chips.
It was far out.
(CHOOSE YOUR TEAM)
Todd Bennett, Phil Brown, Garry Cook -
I'd squeezed myself into that team in 1984.
We were real great friends, real great colleagues,
real great competitors.
So, with that sort of fraternity,
you learn to love one another.
My mouth goes dry, butterflies in my stomach.
I'm bubbling. I'm frightened.
Bam!
Before I know, I'm exploding out of my blocks.
The first 60 meters, I'm giving it all that I've got.
It's a sprint.
(GIVE IT ALL YOU'VE GOT!)
I'm listening to my stride.
I kick in that turbo charger.
I go into that second bend.
I notice now that I'm closing down on some competitors.
My legs are going wobbly, and I'm flowing in.
And I see Garry, and Garry presents his hand,
and Garry recognises I'm spent.
Garry Cook, he was a schoolteacher.
He's disciplined enough to stay in his lane
for that first 100 metres of that second leg.
(GO!)
I look over the high-jump pit.
I see Garry flowing down the back straight.
Garry's fourth. We're in great shape.
Todd gets it.
The horns of Bennett come out of his head
as he grits his teeth.
Todd was very, very small.
People always used to say to him,
"Yeah, you're really, really good,
"but can you hack it with the big boys?"
I always felt that Todd had something to prove
and proved it by beating the big boys.
Todd does his bit.
Phil Brown was a really serious,
philosophical-type athlete
who had no interest in athletics.
"Who's he? Is he good? What time does he run?"
"Phil, he's the American champion!"
"Oh, good. What time does he run?"
With his nostrils flaring and his arms flailing,
Phil makes a break and then goes past the Nigerian
in the last 100 metres.
We are Olympic silver medallists.
(2ND PLACE!)
It was my moment
where I became a world-class performer
on the international stage.
It was a family.
We were great friends.
I was just a small kid from a children's home
who used to get in trouble at school,
and here I am, actually accepting this
on behalf of the country.
Look at that flag and think, "This was because of us."
It was awesome.
(LEVEL 3 - GOAL!)
(KRISS AKABUSI REMAINED A SOLDIER
(THROUGHOUT MUCH OF HIS 18-YEAR ATHLETIC CAREER.)
(KRISS ALSO BECAME A HURDLER AND WENT ON TO WIN
(2 OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDALS IN BARCELONA, 1992.)
(A PRINCE OF THE IGBO TRIBE OF NIGERIA
(KRISS EVENTUALLY RECONNECTED WITH HIS PARENTS.)