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'I'll never forget that first knock on the door': Zion Armstrong looks back on his first mentor and athletic journey

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Sat, 18 Mar 2023, 12:58pm
Zion Armstrong, pictured in his office at adidas' North American HQ, was once a cash-strapped sprinter. Now he heads the company's North American operations. Photo / Supplied
Zion Armstrong, pictured in his office at adidas' North American HQ, was once a cash-strapped sprinter. Now he heads the company's North American operations. Photo / Supplied

'I'll never forget that first knock on the door': Zion Armstrong looks back on his first mentor and athletic journey

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Sat, 18 Mar 2023, 12:58pm

Zion Armstrong has lived an impressive life as a former Commonwealth Games athlete and current president for Adidas North America, but his career wasn't always set in stone.

As a teenager, Zion Armstrong got in trouble with the police and ran away to escape consequences- but the local chief of police happened to be a track and field coach who recognised Zion's athletic ability.

Police chief Ross Dallow became Zion Armstrong's first mentor, and he conscripted him into joining the local athletics team to keep him out of trouble. Zion never forgot that moment, and remembers this chance encounter as a life-changing event that saved him from a dangerous path. 

Zion's athletic days are beyond him, but even as the president of Adidas North America, he always thinks about the the power of chance encounters, support and effort.

"It just takes one person. You'll never ever know what he or she is going through, so always be there to lend a hand and support people, because you never know what that chance encounter can do for someone's life."

Zion told Jack Tame about how this one event shaped his athletic career and journey with Adidas.

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