The Education of Life - with Christian Taylor

11/12/20 • 42 min

#008 - The GOAT (Greatest of all Time), two-time Olympic Champion and four-time World Champion in the triple jump and five-time World Athletics Diamond League Champion. What else is there you can say about Christian Taylor?

Quite a lot, as it happens. The 10-time NCAA All American recently founded and became President of his own progressive athlete union, the Athletics Association aimed at giving athletes a greater say over the future of track and field athletics. Set-up in response to World Athletics’ decision to cut Taylor’s trademark event, the triple jump, from the Diamond League Finals, Taylor’s new athletes rights movement boasts Adam Gemili, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Shelly-Ann Fraser Price and Emma Coburn amongst its ranks.

Born to Barbadian parents in Georgia, USA, Taylor is a true internationalist, and relishes the opportunity he has had to travel and live all over the world - the education of life - which led to him meeting his fiancée, the Austrian athlete, Beate Schrott.

As someone that wants to give the next generation better opportunities than he had, Taylor is mindful of the issues that today’s instant gratification culture poses on the younger generations, not least the dangers presented by social media and the impact new technologies have on getting young people to play sport.

Christian Taylor is an athlete going places in life after sport, but he’s not done yet. With the postponed Tokyo 2020 (or is Tokyo 2021) around the corner, he has one more Olympic Gold Medal in his sights.

If you'd like to get the links and show notes for this episode, head to:

http://bennichols.co.uk/the-education-of-life-with-christian-taylor

If you'd like to get the links and show notes for this episode, head to:

http://bennichols.co.uk/the-education-of-life-with-christian-taylor

Previous Episode

Free Speech Champion - with Ali Jawad

#007 – Born without legs in Lebanon, and moving to England at just six months’ old, the word ‘hardship’ doesn’t feature in Ali Jawad’s vocabulary. The Briton, who during his teens was diagnosed with uncurable Chrom’s disease has always grasped life with both hands, a skill evident by his determination to secure the Para-Powerlifting Silver Medal for Team GB at the Rio 2016 Games.

Today, he is one of Britain’s most ambitious athletes, and in an era when free speech is under increasing threat, a fierce defender of the uncensored athlete voice. His passion for overhauling an athlete-light anti-doping system and advocating for athlete rights has grown no end in the past couple of years, as Ali has taken on prominent athlete committee roles at UK Anti-Doping and Global Athlete.

Ever one to defy the odds, Ali has refused to be a victim of the Covid-19 global pandemic downturn that has affected so many; seeing what is a challenging year to so many as a year of opportunity to spur him on to new ventures including an upcoming mobile App he is set to launch next year.

With a plethora of projects on the go, Ali is now targeting going one better than Rio by securing Gold Medal at the Tokyo 2020 (or is 2021?) Games next year.

If you'd like to get the links and show notes for this episode, head to:
http://bennichols.co.uk/free-speech-champion-with-ali-jawad

Next Episode

The Fifth Beatle - with Todd Martin

#009 - As the former World Number 4, Todd Martin was a proud member of the golden club of American ATP stars in his nation’s tennis heyday: the 1990s. The self-described “Fifth Beatle” was in good company during that glorious era for the sport, as he sparred against compatriots Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Michael Chang for what became that elusive Grand Slam title.

To many, he was the ‘nearly man’, but to himself, the eight ATP tournament titles, the near misses and the two Grand Slam Final losses made him the person he is today. Michigan-born Martin is today CEO of the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Rhode Island, where he also serves as Tournament Director of the post-Wimbledon Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open.

With this, and his own eponymous Youth Leadership Trust helping underprivileged kids through tennis, Martin has, in his own words, led “a charmed life”.

With all this already achieved in life, this 50-year-old and true gentleman of the sport has much more to accomplish in the years ahead.

If you'd like to get the links and show notes for this episode, head to:

http://bennichols.co.uk/the-fifth-beatle-with-todd-martin