Ex-Olympic ace Derek Redmond tells Shropshire pupils to have a goal
Students at a re-branded failing school in Telford were urged to set goals and "chase their dreams" by former Olympic athlete Derek Redmond.
The 50-year-old, a gold medallist in the 4x400 Great Britain relay team at the World Championships, European Championships and Commonwealth Games, was brought in to speak to students at the Telford Park School in Stirchley, Telford, yesterday.
Redmond, who also played basketball for England after injury wrecked his athletics career, flew in from Dubai to take the talk and started by joking that students probably had no idea who the "old codger in the pink jumper" was speaking at the front.
The school, formerly Lakeside Academy, was given the worst possible "inadequate" rating earlier this year and placed into special measures following a visit from inspectors for Ofsted, the government education watchdog.
Leadership of the school has since been taken over by the Communities Academy Trust (CAT), which has renamed the school as it seeks a fresh start.
Steve Dolphin, a member of the school's new senior management team, helped to organise the visit. He said: "We are looking to raise aspirations and achievements, and there is no better person than Derek Redmond to come in and help us as we look to launch a brand new school.
"As an athlete myself it was great to hear him speak about his story and we hope it will prove an inspiration to pupils."
Every one of the 370 pupils at the school, from Year Seven to Year 11, crammed into the sports hall to listen to the talk.
Redmond refused to watch as he played back the video of the fateful 400m semi-final at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona when, as a fancied medal hope, he tore his hamstring and had to be helped over the finish line by his father Jim.
He told students at the Telford Park School in Stirchley that, after seven failed comebacks, a surgeon told him two years later his athletics career was over and he would never represent his country again.
But Redmond was driven to prove him wrong – and did so when he represented England at basketball a few years later.
"We all want to be successful," he said.
"Success is measured in different ways to different people. It might be having lots of money, it might be living in a big house, or having lots of cars. To an athlete, it is about how many medals you win."
Redmond recalled the incredible victory a year before his heartbreaking injury when he, Roger Black, Kriss Akabusi and John Regis beat the Americans to take gold in the 4x400m relay at Tokyo for the 1991 World Championships.
"America had not been beaten in that event for 57 years," he told students.
"If you added the personal bests of their four runners-up and added ours there was a three-second difference – which might not sound much, but it equates to around 27 metres on a running track which is massive. But we were fed up with second best and winning silver medals. We went there with one aim – to come back with the gold medal. And we did it."
Redmond told the pupils he hoped his story would inspire them and outlined his five rules for success.
"Rule number one is you need a goal – you need something to aim for," he said.
"Rule number two is commitment. You need to commit to that goal. For instance I might set myself a goal of losing weight. But if I then sit in front of the telly stuffing my face with doughnuts and drinking fizzy pop, I'm not committing to doing what I say. If my wife offers me a doughnut and I say 'no thanks, I'm trying to lose weight', then that's commitment.
"Third is teamwork. Sometimes you need help from other people. I might say to my wife 'look, stop buying doughnuts and fizzy drinks. Fourth, and absolutely most important, is self-belief. You have to believe that you can achieve.
"If you don't believe that you can do it, how can you expect anyone else to?
"And last but not least, never, ever, ever give up on your dreams. Things will go wrong. If it doesn't happen first time, try and try again."
