Derek Redmond

www.dailymail.co.uk

Some people think that a "hero" is a lifesaver or someone that has done something amazingly awesome. That's wrong, to me it is someone that has inspired or helped people. So an inspiring hero to me is Derek Redmond. He shows the qualities of: Courage, Perseverance and Determination.

Derek Redmond is the son of Jenny and Jim. He is a British 400m runner and a good basketball player. When he finished his running career his got into the British league. He has 2 children called Grace and Elliot. Redmond was born in Bletchley in Buckinghamshire and went to Roade school.

When he ripped his ham string. (www.asthlife.com (not sure))

A great story involving a load of courage is when he was lining up to the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona determined to break another record and get a medal. He got of to a great start when suddenly he fell to the ground like a shot Bear. Lying there gasping for air as the pain got the better of him. Redmond had just ripped his right hamstring and ripped up his running future. He started to get up and hobble to the finish line because he wanted to finish the race no matter what. Without warning a man bombarded past security and ran onto the track to Derek. Where the man put his arm over Redmond and helped him to the end. The man was his dad. His dad said "We will start together and finish together."

To get to the peak of his fitness and compete in these challenging standards, he has trained hard and has been determined to win lots of medals like he has done. In 1986, Derek was a member of the teams that won the 4x400 metres relay gold medal at both the European Championships and Commonwealth Games. The following year, he was on the team that won the 4x400 metres relay silver medal at the World Championships. He broke the British record for the 400 meters in 1985 with a run of 44.82 seconds. He is also a very inspirational person that has done well in life with his running career.

In conclusion, Derek's personal goals and hopes have been mastered and has now guided him to help other people in his motivational speaking. He is a very good role model to runners and is helping other people now. I am inspired by him because he persevered to the end and never gave up.