Derek Redmond: why I think team GB will enjoy a golden summer in Paris
Athletics legend Derek Remond is tipping Team GB to enjoy a golden Summer at the Paris Olympics.
The retired sprinter thinks Britain’s sporting stars could even finish in the top three in the final medals table.
Redmond’s appearance in the Barcelona Games in 1992 remains one of the most iconic moments in Olympic history.
Redmond now works as a motivational speaker – and travels the world to talk about his career.
But the 58-year-old, from Northampton, said that wherever he will be at the start of the Games he will be tuning in and cheering on Team GB.
He said: “I’m really looking forward to it, Paris is a great city, and I think it will be a great backdrop for the games. I have no doubt the French will put on a good show.
“As for Team GB, I think we can look forward to a golden Summer. We are certainly one of the top four or five countries in the world. It would be great if we can get third or higher in the final table. Let’s go for it. We seem to pull it out for the Olympic year so I am expecting a lot, although I don’t want to put too much pressure on them. But I would expect to be in the top five nations on that final medals table.”
Outlining who is most excited about seeing this Summer he said: “I’m looking forward to seeing Dina Asher-Smith and also the American Sha’Carri Richardson. Some people like her, some people don’t like her. She’s absolutely brilliant. I think she’s great for the sport. She’s a bit of a character. She can blow hot and cold performance-wise, but she pulled it out of the bag after a terrible semi-final of the World Championship where she ended up with lane nine and won the 100 metres final. I am a massive fan. She’s like a modern day Florence Griffith Joyner, but just with a bit of energy and bite. So yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing her because whatever she does, she’ll have people talking.”
Asked who he believes the greatest Olympian of all time is he said: “The obvious one for me is Daley Thompson, because he’s one of my all time heroes. Obviously a double Olympic champion, he held the world record at the time. So for me, I guess he would be the greatest but then I’m also a massive Michael Jordan fan and he would be up there on that list.”
During his career, Redmond held the British record for the 400 metres sprint, and won gold medals in the 4×400 metres relay at the World Championships and European Championships.
At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, he tore his hamstring in the 400 metres semi-final but continued the race limping and, with assistance from his father, managed to complete a full lap of the track as the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
The incident has become a well-remembered moment in Olympic history, having been the subject of one of the International Olympic Committee’s “Celebrate Humanity” videos. It has been used in advertisements by Visa as an illustration of the Olympic spirit and featured in Nike’s “Courage” commercials in 2008.
President Obama even referenced it in one of his speeches.
But asked about his favourite Olympic moment, Remond said: “There’s so many. Ironically, even though 1992 was the worst for me, it also provided a great memory – as the Dream Team came back to basketball. The American Dream Team doing what they did was pretty spectacular. It was like an exhibition watching those guys do what they do. That’s way up there for me.
“But my most memorable, maybe for all the wrong reasons, was Ben Johnson and that 100 metres in 1988. That was my first Olympics and we were at the stadium watching. We were quite close to the finish line, quite low down so I had great views. I remember seeing that race and we were just dumbfounded with the performance and then obviously 24 hours later the news came out. That was definitely a situation that completely numbed certainly every athlete competing at the Olympic Games from whatever country you were. In the whole village, there was a numbness and a buzz around.”
For more information visit https://champions-speakers.co.uk/speaker-agent/derek-redmond
