 |
LONDON OLYMPICS 2012: Derek Redmond"s looking to help torchbearer Dad over the line this time. Posted on ... family support: Jim Redmond makes sure Derek finishes his race. Derek Redmond might not have won an ...
While his father is guaranteed a place at London 2012, Redmond says: 'The one thing I'm gutted about is they've given the old man accreditation for the Games and I haven't got any yet. I can't believe he's got that and I haven't.
'But it's nothing new. Every major championship I've competed in Dad always had better accreditation than me. I used to have to go to him to get into certain places.
Redmond, 46, says Barcelona typified their close relationship and he is only too happy to help get his father fit for the torch relay.
'He's getting himself in shape and he's going to come down to the gym with me and get on the treadmill. I keep on joking that if he breaks down then I'll come and help him. See if I can turn the tables.
'It possibly got me more fame than becoming world champion, European champion, Commonwealth and British champion mixed up together,' says Redmond.
'It did change my life. Not the way I expected it to and it wasn't the way I planned the whole of the '92 Olympics to go. It's what happened and, as they say, the rest is history.
'I went through a stage when I thought the world owed me, athletics owed me, and they should all just stop and press pause until I got back in shape and then we can carry on.
'But I came to the conclusion that all I did was pull a muscle in a race. There are people in the world who suffer real problems and I just decided to get on with my life and stop crying over something that isn't going to change and you can't do anything about.
Today Redmond, a motivational speaker, lives in Northampton with wife Maria and her two children, Lucia and Paola. He also has two children, Elliott and Grace, from his previous marriage to swimmer Sharron Davies.
Three years later it intensified, and he jokes: 'I made the biggest mistake of my life doing my first track day at Donington. That was it, I was hooked.
'I hated the first two sessions. It frightened the **** out of me. But once I found my own level, which was at the back of the novice group, I just loved it. I came off there buzzing the way I came off an athletics track. I've played basketball at a professional level. I've played rugby as a professional. I didn't get the same buzz.
From there, he moved on to endurance racing and has set up his own team, joining forces with John Dimbylow to form Splitlath Redmond.
They will compete in the British Superbike Championship starting on April 6 and other road and endurance races. Redmond also hopes to have a role at London 2012, in the media or with a sponsor, and he knows he cannot shake off what happened in 1992.
No related posts.This entry was posted in Sports Guide and tagged accreditation, barack, champion, commonwealth, dreams, european, family, iconic, image, montjuic, olympic, redmond, result, stadium, treadmill by adminsports. Bookmark the permalink. Comments are closed.