David Oliver (hurdler)

"Many people love to offer advice and change many things about their life, but for me I’d just say, “stay the course”. I’d not change anything because every setback you experience always serves a purpose. I honestly don’t feel that had I started the sport earlier or maybe gone to a different university is something I desire. I love the path I walked down, so I would tell myself to hang in there and stay the course"

"Of course, when I was younger I made mistakes. We all do. As guys we are slow to mature and I did some stupid things. At Howard University I performed well as a hurdler. I won races and conference championships but at homecoming time I decided to hang out with friends and I missed two practises in my sophomore year. My coach was furious and kicked me off the team only for a colleague to talk him out of it and give me a two-meet suspension instead"

"The suspension actually ran from October through to January because I was waiting to serve the two-meet ban. I was sat on the bus in street clothes fetching snacks for the team. It was embarrassing. To me, this was a huge wake-up call and made me realise how close I’d been to letting everything slip and returning back to Denver to live in my mom’s basement. It was a reminder of how fleeting your career can be and as my coach reminded me - Howard University was here way before me and would be here way after me – and I have only the interim period to leave a legacy"

"I would also say I have no regrets or advice to give because if you have never been through setbacks, how does that teach resilience? Going through challenges teaches you coping strategies fo the future"