Olympic athletics champion, who also created an iconic moment, when serious injury at Barcelona let to his father helping him cross the line. Derek has gone on to excel in several areas including basketball, coaching, TV personality, motorbike team racing and as an outstanding motivational speaker.
Former Olympic athlete, Derek is the winner of gold medals in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the World Championships, European Championships and Commonwealth Games and is the former holder of British record for the 400 metres sprint.
Derek went on to create one of the most significant and inspiring moments in Athletics history at the Barcelona Olympics. Having suffered numerous injuries throughout his athletic career, when he entered the arena for the 400m semi finals at the Barcelona Olympics he was was being tipped to win a gold medal for Great Britain, however, roughly 150m into the race, in a strong position, Derek’s hamstring snapped. In this powerful, emotional and heart rending moment, the crowds watched as Derek got up and hobbled the remaining 250 metres of the race leading to a standing ovation. This achievement was widely acclaimed and featured in 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. The incident has since been voted one of the Olympics’ most inspirational moments by US network NBC and even referenced by Barack Obama in a presidential speech.
This injury called a halt to Derek’s athletics career, but, committed to not letting his injury keep him down, he has since played basketball for England and played rugby 7s. He also went on to be appointed Director of Development for sprints and hurdles for UK Athletics. He also moved into motorcyle racing and set up his own outfit, Derek Redmond Racing, to contest the Hottrax Endurance series. His passion and dedication to motorsport has contributed to him co-creating two motorsport Teams, ‘Spitlash Redmond’ and ‘RG Moto’.
His media work has included Eurosport commentary, a basketball show for ITV, Celebrity Gladiators, which he won and Equinox
Derek brings the same level of determination and sense of achievement to his motivational speeches and is much in demand for corporate events to address the themes of teamwork, planning and overcoming adversity.
“We have received excellent feedback from our staff who were inspired, motivated and enthused by your presentation. Thank you for making our event an undoubted success.” Lloyds TSB
“Relevant, passionate and uplifting. You did a great job for us, many thanks.“Tetleys
