Roger was presenting to a group of businessmen in Sheffield and told us about his 400-metre race at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. In the years leading up to this event, Roger had suffered a number of setbacks; including a broken foot and then in 1993 he got glandular fever. At this point he was close to quitting. Roger then received some advice from another athlete, David Jenkins. Roger says, David should have won medals himself but never ran his own race. Because David had tried and failed, his advice was the most powerful of all. David told me to relax and focus on what I could control. This took a huge weight off my shoulders. He then told me to have just one goal to run my perfect race. In Atlanta in 1996, Roger ran his perfect race. Roger came second but he felt like a champion because hed given it his best shot. Standing on the rostrum to receive his silver medal, Roger realised that the only difference between him and the winner was the height of the rostrum. For Roger, this was his gold medal. Roger allowed me to do something very special when I met him. Roger allowed me to try on his Gold medal. |
