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World Champion and Olympic Athlete motivates Limesquare staff
Maxine Warren (Manager of the Milton Keynes branch) had the pleasure of meeting World Champion and Olympic silver medallist Kriss Akabusi at a recent seminar hosted by Easycopiers on 29th June 2012.
Kriss was catapulted to fame in 1984 when he achieved a silver medal in the 4 x 400m relay race in the Olympics of that year in Los Angeles. His success continued in 1986 when he won the gold medal for the 4 x 400m relay in the Commonwealth Games, by which point he was a household name and a source of immense pride for the people of Britain.
In 1990 Kriss ran his way into the history books by smashing the British 400m hurdles record (held by David Hemery) at 48.12 seconds with his new time of 47.93 seconds, incidentally winning the gold medal at the European Championships at the same time.
One of the most memorable moments of his career arose when Kriss overtook World Champion 400m runner Antonio Pettigrew on the final leg of the 4 x 400m relay to win gold for the British team in the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, helping to set a new British record of 2:57:53 for this event.
Before Kriss retired as a record breaking athlete he won bronze in the 400m hurdles at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, breaking his own British record for this event with a new time of 47.82 seconds. Kriss won bronze in the 4 x 400m relay of the same year.
Since Kriss hung up his spandex shorts in the early 1990s he has done remarkably well as a motivational speaker, starting and running a successful company that specialises in life and business coaching. It is through his capacity as a motivational speaker that some of our very own staff members had the honour of meeting this British sporting hero, an experience with a genuinely nice gentleman that will be remembered forever. A successful and enjoyable encounter all round, Maxine said of the day, "What an experience. Kriss really knows how to motivate you – I came away feeling ready to take on the world."
With thanks to Kriss for his positive input, Limesquare would also like to take the opportunity to wish all the athletes competing this Summer the best of luck. Come on Great Britain!
By Marina Wryer
Published 10/07/2012
