Derek Redmond, one of the world’s most inspirational athletes turned motivational speakers talks with the Billionaire Magazine team about success and motivation. Derek’s shown true dedication to his career through numerous athletic accolades, titles and gold medals. He is a two-time Olympian, a World Champion 4x400m Relay 1991, World Silver Medallist 1987 and two-times British 400m record breaker. During his career, he held the British record for the 400 metres sprint, and won gold medals in the 4x400 metres relay at the World Championships, European Championships and Commonwealth Games.

 

Though his career was effected by a series of injuries, Derek has managed to turn adversity into opportunity. 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 and been used in advertisements by Visa as an illustration of the Olympic spirit and featured in Nike's "Courage" commercials in 2008.

 

Derek was educated at Roade School, Northamptonshire, where a multi-use sports hall is named after him. He is a supporter of Newcastle United FC of the English Premier League.

 

Derek first broke the British record for the 400 metres in 1985 with a run of 44.82 seconds. This record was subsequently broken by Roger Black, but Redmond reclaimed the record in 1987 with a run of 44.50 seconds. The record lasted until 1992. In 1986, Derek was a member of teams that won the 4x400 metres relay gold medal at both the European Championships and Commonwealth Games. The following year, he was on the team that won the 4x400 metres relay silver medal at the World Championships.

 

At the 1991 World Championships Derek was a member of the British team that shocked the athletics world by beating the much-favoured American team into second place to claim the gold medal in the 4x400 metres relay. Derek ran the second leg in the final and, together with team-mates Roger Black, John Regis and Kriss Akabusi, ran what was then the second-fastest 4x400 metres relay in history.

 

Injuries consistently interrupted his career. At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, he pulled out of the opening round of the 400 metres 90 seconds before his heat was due because of an injury to his achilles. Before the 1992 Summer Olympics, he had undergone eight operations due to injuries.