The World's Fastest Accountant: Eugene Amo-Dadzie...
Here's my favourite story from this year's World Athletics Championships. At age 31, Eugene Amo- Dadzie, a senior accountant from London became the joint fourth fastest British sprinter of all time..
Happy new week!
Last week was the World Athletics Championship in Budapest. Alongside the Olympic Games, they represent the highest level championships of senior international outdoor athletics. A record total of 2100 athletes from 195 countries have competed in the Hungarian capital. We saw Jamaica's Shericka Jackson break the championship record in the women's 200m final. One world U20 record and seven championship records were also broken. My favourite story from this year’s championship though is the story of Eugene Amo-Dadzie. The 100m semi-finalist who is also a senior accountant.
Growing up Eugene was a talented athlete, In 2006 he won Great Britain’s under 16s 100m race in 12.1. After a 13-year break, he ran his next 100m race at 10.55. People only started to take notice when he ran 9.93 in Austria in June this year. Two months later, he had his first world championships at age 31, earning a selection for the GB team at the European Indoors in March in Istanbul after making it to the semi-final.
Eugene took a long break from athletics, as life, university, and getting a job as a senior accountant got in the way. He had to put his dream to the side, but in the winter of 2018, Eugene started to train again and give his track and field dream another go.
“I used to sit at home and watch championships thinking: ‘If I’d trained I could have made it’,” he says. “I was content to be the guy that could have done it. That was my story for years. One fateful day it all changed when I was literally playing football adjacent to an athletics track. My really good friends, who I went to school with, knew I was quick. For years, they would say to me: ‘you wasted your talent’. I just took the abuse, it was what it was. But that fateful day, God flicked a switch in my head.” At that moment, I thought: ‘What do I have to lose?’ And, thank God, I sit here now, the world's fastest accountant, about to be on the world stage.”
Balancing a 9-5 with your passion, business, or hobby is very difficult but Eugene is a great example, showing it is possible. Most of the time we never realise our full potential in things we’re talented in, we let life happen and let go of our dreams. Just imagine the things we were naturally gifted at, if we poured more into it, where we could be now.
It is never too late to revive that dream or goal you put to the side. With some commitment, determination, and good time management, you can reignite the fire and find the balance. Dreams make life more exciting. Don’t live in the ‘what if’ state any longer, give your dream a go and see what comes of it. Stories like Eugene’s prove that your dreams are never out of reach. Well done to Eugene for giving his dream a real chance and for inspiring us to do the same. Stop sitting on your dreams and ideas, you’re only one opportunity away from your life changing for the better.