“I think Akeem is too humble to realize his hard work brought him to where he is at today,” says Ken Rose, the head track coach at Crescent Heights High School in Calgary. “Akeem created his good fortune by his perseverance and dedication. Most people in his situation would have quit long ago.”
A person with Perseverance is always going to win. Today I want to tell you the story of such a person. In fact, this will be the first of many stories about someone who did not give up. Instead they faced many limitations, obstacles and challenges and rammed their way to victory!
They were ruthless in their determination. They were faithful to their mission. But mostly to themselves.
Millions could learn so much from such people and there are so many stories of people who overcame their backgrounds, their situations and surroundings, who triumphed over the odds.
Akeem Haynes’s story is about never quitting.
Watch this video:
Akeem was born in Jamaica (that wonderful little island of sun and fabulously fleet-footed sprinters.) His family first moved to Yellowknife, the Northwest Territories, Canada when he was seven years old and then later moved to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Yellowknife is in the arctic – maybe a strange place for a bunch of Jamaicans to be, but I’m sure they had good reasons to be there!
The first time I saw Akeem Haynes run, he was just in Grade 10. He represented Cresent Heights High School and he was a football player. (News spreads fast in track and field circles!) BUT He was FAST, short, strong and stocky. He had the build of a classic sprinter. Later I would learn that he caught the eye of Donovan Bailey, Canada’s gold medalist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Here’s what Akeem said: “I didn’t really want to do track at the beginning, honestly, but my high school phys-ed teacher and coach, Ken Rose, he told me to come out after football season in the 10th grade.
“I was like, ‘Man, I just made the under-17 team so I don’t really want to risk anything.’ But he told me it would help me train to get faster. Then I went out there and didn’t do too bad.”
His teacher told him that he could have a future in the sport. But even when Haynes went on to win city and provincial meets, he wasn’t convinced, “until I started getting offers from schools in the States.”
You could tell he was an up and coming star. We see so many kids at this age with so much potential. Would he live up to his?
He didn’t qualify for top USA universities even though they wanted him because he did poorly academically. So several of his teachers at Crescent Heights helped him get his grades good enough to attend Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kansas. From there, he transferred to the University of Alabama where he graduated in general health.
His coach says that by day Akeem Haynes is a sprinter. By night he is a philosopher king.
“Don’t be one of those people who always waits for next time,” Haynes wrote the day before the Rio relay final on Twitter. “That option might not be there down the road. Sometimes you have to just go for it.”
And go for it he did.
Canada’s relay team of Akeem Haynes, Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney, and Andre de Grasse actually came in fourth, just behind the Americans. The Canadians ran a clean race and were downcast but in seconds, minutes later that changed to joy. The Americans made a poor baton hand-off and were disqualified.
Unbelievable!
But that’s what perseverance does. It has its rewards.
Here are just some of obstacles he faced:
1. He struggled mightily in school due to undiagnosed learning disabilities.
2. He qualified for the world youth championships in track and field, only to have a problem with his citizenship papers prevent him from attending.
3. He made the Canadian team for the world junior championships, only to pull a hamstring.
4. He received multiple scholarship offers from Division One schools in the U.S., only to have his marks prevent him from attending.
5. While at the University of Alabama, he struggled with injuries.
6. At age 20, Haynes qualified for the 2012 London Olympic team, but he was benched in a last-minute roster shuffle.
Dejected and down, he kept running. In 2015, he ran the 60 metres indoor in 6.51 seconds, a mark that tied him for third in the Canadian record book with Donovan Bailey. It was in 2015 where his coach found out that he was sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag for 6 months. He had no government funding, little money, few possessions. He stayed with his training partner in a empty apartment.
Today at 24, Akeem Haynes can celebrate his win as part of the bronze medal relay team at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. He’s got a sponsorship from Puma and funding from the Canadian government.
Because he didn’t quit. Because he persevered.
Everything has changed.
So, do you live with “what ifs?” Do live with regrets for what could’ve been? As long as you’re breathing, you can still do something that you’ve always wanted to do and be great at it.
Do it. Now.
That’s what I’m doing. I’m creating my online Brain Training course specifically designed for people with Post Concussion Syndrome (PCS.) My team is called Builders and they all live with PCS, but that’s about to change. They will help me create the perfect curriculum for the online course. Then we will do the research project!
Dr. Joanny Liu, TCMD, RAc, P.Eng, International #1 Best Selling Author and founder of Extraordinary Sports Medicine, where we help athletes reverse injury, get back in the game they love and improve their quality of life.
P.S. Watch Nathan’s Successful Recovery from Post Concussion Syndrome:
If you or someone you care about has a concussion or post concussion syndrome then pick up Dr. Joanny’s best seller: Heal Your Concussion: How to Quickly and Effectively Get Back in the Game
