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| Olusoji Fasuba |
Nigeria's Olusoji Fasuba is the African 100m record holder, an Olympic bronze
medallist and an indoor 60m world champion, making him one of the fastest men
on the planet.
But Olusoji — nicknamed "Flash" by his shipmates has just
completed nine months of training to become a logistics specialist in the Royal Navy.
The sailor, 27, whose mother was
born in Jamaica, decided to retire from professional running to provide a more
settled life for his wife and baby daughter.
Before joining the Navy last May, Olusoji has claimed bronze in the
4x100m relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics, gold in the 100m and 4x100m relay at
the 2007 All-African Games and gold at the 2008 Indoor Championships at 60m.
In 2006, he set an African record in
the 100m of 9.85 seconds, just 0.27 of a second slower than the fastest man in
the world, Usain Bolt. He said: "I've had a very good career in athletics and been there
with the big boys, but I was looking to the future and wanted to settle.
"My father used to work for the
Nigerian Navy, so from a young age
it was all about the Navy”."Some
of my friends are serving in the British
Army and tried to persuade me to join, but for me it had to be the Royal Navy”.
"Training has been my way of
life for a long time. Growing up in Nigeria, discipline is very strict, so that
aspect of being in the Navy wasn't really a shock."
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| Excited ... Olusoji Fasuba is looking forward to life in the Navy |
He is keen to apply for British
citizenship, but was eligible for his current post due to Nigeria's
Commonwealth membership.
Olusoji lives
with his wife, 400m runner Ngozi
Nwokocha, and their seven-month-old daughter Annabelle in Plymouth, Devon.
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| Medal winner ... Olusoji with wife Ngozi |
In his new role he will be
responsible for ensuring that his unit has everything it needs, ordering and
storing millions of pounds worth of equipment, from engineering parts to
stationery.
He said: "In
this job I'll be working in an office or a storeroom and I'll be able to keep
my athletics as a hobby. "I'm excited about my first posting as
I've never had what you would call a regular job."
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| New recruit ... Olusoji Fasuba in training |
He has also revealed he dreams of
becoming a member of the Royal Navy
bobsleigh team — and will soon be travelling to Austria for his first try-out
at the Inter-Service games. Olusoji was
inspired by 1993 film Cool Runnings — a comedy loosely based on the true story
of the Jamaican bobsled team's debut in the 1988 Winter Olympics.
He added: "As soon as I saw the
film Cool Runnings, I thought 'I could do that'.
"I've never done it before and
may not like it so I've given myself five chances to see how things go.
"My ambition is to represent
Britain at bobsleigh at a Winter Olympics."
MORE PICS OF Olusoji Fasuba on the Tracks below;
MORE PICS OF Olusoji Fasuba on the Tracks below;
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| Olusoji A. Fasuba of Nigeria (#6), Dwain Chambers (2nd from R) of Great Britain Kim Collins (R) of St Kitts and Nevis in joint second in the 60m Mens Final at the 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships at the Palau Lluis Puig on March 7, 2008 in Valencia, Spain. Olusoji Won The Race |
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| Olusoji A. Fasuba of Nigeria (#6), Dwain Chambers (2nd from R) of Great Britain Kim Collins (R) of St Kitts and Nevis in joint second in the 60m Mens Final at the 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships at the Palau Lluis Puig on March 7, 2008 in Valencia, Spain. Olusoji Won The Race |
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| (L-R) Olusoji Fasuba of Nigeria and Tyson Gay of the United States compete in the Men's 100m Heats at the National Stadium on Day 7 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 15, 2008 in Beijing, China. |
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| (L-R) Olusoji Fasuba of Nigeria and Tyson Gay of the United States compete in the Men's 100m Heats at the National Stadium on Day 7 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 15, 2008 in Beijing, China. |
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| (L-R) Olusoji Fasuba of Nigeria and Aaron Rouge-Serret of Austrlia compete during the Men's 4 x 100m Relay First Round on day seven of the 11th IAAF World Athletics Championships on August 31, 2007 at the Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan. |
Source: royalnavy.mod.uk
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That's a good talent keep it up olusoji. we are proud of you.
ReplyDeleteMay the Lord God strengthened you, and favor you in your new found job.Enjoy your life with your family in the Lord.L.A.O
ReplyDeleteBravo amigo! keep it up
ReplyDeleteWhat the #@*!!!
ReplyDeleteHe's joining the BRITISH forces not Nigeria because he wants to BRITiSH citizenship. Where is the patriotism and yet you guys are applauding him... funny
SORRY HE CAN JOIN ANY FORCE HE WISHES...HE HAD SERVED HIS FATHER LAND (NIGERIA) WELL ENOUGH TO EARN HIM HONORARY WARD FROM THE PRESIDENT...NOW IT IS TIME FOR HIM TO ENGAGE ANOTHER CHAPTER OF HIS LIFE AND HE IS DOING IT WITH GREAT SUCCESS...WE NEED TO ENCOURAGE AND APPRECIATE THIS GUY...MANY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD HAVE NOT DONE 0.001% OF WHAT HE HAD GIVEN TO NIGERIA.
ReplyDeleteCONGRATS FASUBA...MAY GOD BLESS YOU CONTINUALLY AND NIGERIA & GREAT BRITAIN.