[Music]
I’m standing at the line it’s like 35
degrees out and I am sweaty I look to
the crowd everybody’s going nuts
I look to my competitors and they’re
hungry I focus on myself and I’m ready I
crouched down to the line focused I take
off
five strides ten strides 30 meters 60
meters 80 meters 90 meters I look left I
look right I see no one
I lean at the line that’s over my name
is Sam ephah and that was my definition
of success when I won my first Canadian
Championships here in Toronto in the 100
meters
my late father you know he used to
always have these wise words for me
advice he’s he’s an African Canadian
specifically from Ghana and he has this
this thick thick thick accent he’d say
to me
Sami be very very careful if being
successful was easy everyone would do it
and a young Sam look up then I get back
to my PlayStation 2 now ever since
losing him last year
all these little lessons they came back
to me they came flooding in and I keep
them so incredibly CO close to my heart
I always wanted to be successful and I
always wanted to be an Olympian there’s
something about having the Canadian flag
on your chest you know you have people
millions of people wanting to see you on
the podium and wanting to see you win
and on top of that you have an
opportunity to inspire the next
generation to me that’s something I’ve
always wanted to do today I’m gonna talk
to you about a lot of different things
you know I always plan and I always say
it’s you want to go from A to B that’s
that’s so key but I’ve learned through
my experiences that you need to be open
to different challenges but before we
get there I want to show you my little
Sam framework that I use when I’m
putting forward my Olympic goals and my
Olympic dreams so as you can see up
there number one specify ask yourselves
what do you want to do I know for me I
want to be fast easy the second question
how are you going to get there
for me that looks like good nutrition
consistent training good training
partners and a coach who believes in me
simple the next thing action you know
it’s okay to dream there’s nothing wrong
with dream there’s nothing wrong with
setting goals but to get to that dream
of that goal you got to do that in
between work it’s a perfect example for
you guys for iPhone and Android users
don’t be that person that in the morning
you set your alarm for 6:00 a.m. then
you got it again at 602 606 631 7:20 and
finally 7:30 you’re up don’t be that
person instead be that person to get up
at 5:30 a.m. and by the time it reaches
6:00 a.m. you’re there to turn that
alarm off you don’t even hear that
jingle
and lastly map it out so incredibly key
to qualify for the Olympics to qualify
for World Championships to qualify for
the Commonwealth Games you need to run
at our Canadian national championships
it’s a stepping stone so what I do in my
training is I have that set as the is
the goal and I work back from there once
I once I pass that then of course I look
at the Olympics but you got to get
through step one so these Canadian
national championships these are in July
I’ll look back to April am I in the
shape that I need to be in April all the
way back to January is my nutrition
OnPoint
is my body composition the way it needs
to be am I too big and then I’ll go all
the way back to a day like today in
November and I’ll look at my day today
my incremental changes because those
small incremental changes those grow
into big victories so I look at that I
focus on that and I make sure every day
I’m more and more efficient 1/100 of a
second is the difference between first
and last that sometimes
now talked a lot about planning but I
gotta say there’s so many unexpected
things that can happen I competed at the
Commonwealth Games this was in Delhi
India amazing place it was hot
people spoke a different language it
smelt different I remember there was
there was animals there was monkeys roam
in the street randomly I was like cool
all right but let me take you there the
hundred meter final I had qualified
specifically I knew exactly what I
wanted to do and that was to be at that
final so I can get a medal action
oriented what did I do
I did everything I needed to do I did
push-ups that morning I was ready I had
my pump on and lastly I mapped it out
this was in October I had mapped out
from October all the way back in to my
very first training session and I was
hungry so here I am walking through the
stadium it’s like forty to sixty
thousand people you know I’m giving high
fives as I walk in there I’m excited one
lady kind of like she brought her baby
in my face I was not focused I said no
move that baby I’m not ready I don’t
mean to be mean move that baby so I got
to the start line and I’m focused they
go across the line
it’s like Lane to some guy form like
trinidad-tobago
cool Lane three think it was that you’re
making guy wasn’t bolt but he was doing
his thing waiting for a Nigerian guy and
of course not focused on him but the
second the camera came on me I was ready
I had my like my Sam shuffle didn’t look
that great
but I was ready I’m gonna set the stage
for you I remember this like it was
yesterday
so the starter he has like a starter’s
pistol in his hand and he has a British
action accent
so he’s like runners on your mark and I
got to tell you as soon as he said this
everybody in the stadium completely
quiet so eerie forty to sixty thousand
people and they’re all staring at like
the line so we’re all there getting
limber getting ready the next command
you hear so kind of raise your butt up
I got it till you had the gun gone I
remember thinking to myself any noise I
was going somebody burnt for it it
sneezed I was like this is my race I’ve
set it and it’s it’s happening I don’t
care
luckily you know nobody had a cold that
day
they had their buck least it tastes
nasty I know so back back to the race
runners on your mark set the gun goes
and I had the start of my life but the
people who know track-and-field
something went really wrong though so
you have these starting blocks that
supposed to stay in the ground mine for
whatever reason Dannette pins flew back
disadvantaged
everybody’s two steps ahead of me but I
said to myself focus five strides ten
strides twenty strides eighty strides
forty meters 60 meters 80 meters 90
meters I look left I look right I see no
one I lean up the line and immediately I
walk up to the screen it’s a big screen
and it shows the results I’m like I
better be gold gold Jamaica kind of like
silver Great Britain
this point I’m like okay I wanted to win
I didn’t win let me get a medal I look
up I see bronze honestly I don’t
remember the name it wasn’t mine I was
this one I’m like man this sucks you
know not only
that’s the face I made not only was I
you know mentally frustrated because I
specifically knew what I wanted to
achieve I did the actions and they did
everything I needed to do to do it and I
mapped it out but even emotionally I had
my mom watching my dad watching cousins
my kindergarten class everybody was
watching and they saw me fail and lastly
I had always had issues with my hips
like injury after injury after injury
because those blocks had slipped it was
an awkward position and my hips were in
sanely pain like I was in some serious
pain and that turned out to be the
biggest of my problems but it took years
I told you years after this meet I had
surgery I felt like the oldest man alive
I had a hip surgery broken hips labral
tear it’s what they call it took years
before I really got back on track and
what it really took is me connecting
with this new coach that I had here in
Toronto his name is Desi Williams it’s
him right up there that’s my coach right
now and he gave me a new framework so as
you can see first thing he told me first
their training Sam work hard no excuses
I was the type of person after I got
injured and continued to get injured I
had so many excuses but I took that put
it in my running days I was happy cool
put it in my running any excess energy
that I had I put it into my running the
second thing he taught me is be ready to
deviate from your path and again this is
so incredibly key for me because I was
so focused on a to be now I needed to
learn how to be flexible and lastly he
told me to do more than just sprint and
what this meant was he said Sam you have
the opportunity you have the ability to
inspire the next generation and he said
this you know over six to seven times
over the course of like a month or so
and what this took the form of was
speaking at schools first and I loved it
but the one thing I didn’t like is I
would speak now it literally disappeared
like I i wouldn’t connect with those
schools again so I would speak one day
and then there was no continuity but
luckily for me an organization came to
me it’s a guy his name is Steve messler
he has this organization it’s called
classroom champions amazing what they do
is they get Olympians Paralympians
Olympic hopefuls and they put them in
the classrooms of kids across Canada and
they teach virtual lessons so I’m
teaching lessons on YouTube on skype I
can be in Europe and they’re seeing my
lessons and it’s awesome
so to be able to have that opportunity
to do that and have that continuity ten
months of the year was awesome I taught
lessons on steps to success goal-setting
perseverance teamwork friendship and the
list goes on but where this gets
interesting and where I truly found my
passion is one day I decided I wanted to
go and surprise one of my classrooms
because I have a classroom here in
Toronto I have one in waiver and
Saskatchewan born in Calgary Alberta one
in Welland Ontario if you know where
that is and I went into this classroom
these kids came and they all hugged me
there was this one kid in particular his
name was Collins and I’ll never forget
this moment little black kid he reminded
me of me Kenya he hugged me he looked up
to me and said Sam because of you
I believe I could be an athlete I kind
of had that kind of hug them back more
my favorite kid
after that he said to me Sam because of
you
I believe I can go to university I was
like okay he’s getting deep
you know you hugged me a little tighter
and then he just looked right up in my
eyes and he said Sam because you look
like me and you talk like me I believe I
can be successful and I’m not an
emotional guy but at that point I was
like this is what it’s all about
you know I want to be able to inspire
the next generation and funny enough
they got that picture right on cue I
don’t smile like that every day trust me
but Collins is that one right up next to
me with his head on my chest and I
realized that’s why I do what I do being
an international athlete has made me
develop this 360 degree vision of what
success really is now I’m healthy I’m
strong I’m fast again but this time on
my journey to 2020 I can’t wait to bring
my classrooms all you youth and anybody
who I come in contact with because I
believe that is much from calling and I
have a new definition for success my
definition for success is this success
is bigger than just a 2b and reaching
that goal you guys can jot this down
it’s bigger than that success is being
able to take situations that may be
unfavorable take things that are are
going against you and making them
positive and maybe even being like me in
developing these things into your
passion that to me is what success is
with that being said not only am i proud
to be a community ambassador I’m proud
to be a volunteer I’m proud to be a TEDx
tío youth speaker
and I am proud to be a classroom
champions mentor thank you
[Music]
you
I’m standing at the line it’s like 35
degrees out and I am sweaty I look to
the crowd everybody’s going nuts
I look to my competitors and they’re
hungry I focus on myself and I’m ready I
crouched down to the line focused I take
off
five strides ten strides 30 meters 60
meters 80 meters 90 meters I look left I
look right I see no one
I lean at the line that’s over my name
is Sam ephah and that was my definition
of success when I won my first Canadian
Championships here in Toronto in the 100
meters
my late father you know he used to
always have these wise words for me
advice he’s he’s an African Canadian
specifically from Ghana and he has this
this thick thick thick accent he’d say
to me
Sami be very very careful if being
successful was easy everyone would do it
and a young Sam look up then I get back
to my PlayStation 2 now ever since
losing him last year
all these little lessons they came back
to me they came flooding in and I keep
them so incredibly CO close to my heart
I always wanted to be successful and I
always wanted to be an Olympian there’s
something about having the Canadian flag
on your chest you know you have people
millions of people wanting to see you on
the podium and wanting to see you win
and on top of that you have an
opportunity to inspire the next
generation to me that’s something I’ve
always wanted to do today I’m gonna talk
to you about a lot of different things
you know I always plan and I always say
it’s you want to go from A to B that’s
that’s so key but I’ve learned through
my experiences that you need to be open
to different challenges but before we
get there I want to show you my little
Sam framework that I use when I’m
putting forward my Olympic goals and my
Olympic dreams so as you can see up
there number one specify ask yourselves
what do you want to do I know for me I
want to be fast easy the second question
how are you going to get there
for me that looks like good nutrition
consistent training good training
partners and a coach who believes in me
simple the next thing action you know
it’s okay to dream there’s nothing wrong
with dream there’s nothing wrong with
setting goals but to get to that dream
of that goal you got to do that in
between work it’s a perfect example for
you guys for iPhone and Android users
don’t be that person that in the morning
you set your alarm for 6:00 a.m. then
you got it again at 602 606 631 7:20 and
finally 7:30 you’re up don’t be that
person instead be that person to get up
at 5:30 a.m. and by the time it reaches
6:00 a.m. you’re there to turn that
alarm off you don’t even hear that
jingle
and lastly map it out so incredibly key
to qualify for the Olympics to qualify
for World Championships to qualify for
the Commonwealth Games you need to run
at our Canadian national championships
it’s a stepping stone so what I do in my
training is I have that set as the is
the goal and I work back from there once
I once I pass that then of course I look
at the Olympics but you got to get
through step one so these Canadian
national championships these are in July
I’ll look back to April am I in the
shape that I need to be in April all the
way back to January is my nutrition
OnPoint
is my body composition the way it needs
to be am I too big and then I’ll go all
the way back to a day like today in
November and I’ll look at my day today
my incremental changes because those
small incremental changes those grow
into big victories so I look at that I
focus on that and I make sure every day
I’m more and more efficient 1/100 of a
second is the difference between first
and last that sometimes
now talked a lot about planning but I
gotta say there’s so many unexpected
things that can happen I competed at the
Commonwealth Games this was in Delhi
India amazing place it was hot
people spoke a different language it
smelt different I remember there was
there was animals there was monkeys roam
in the street randomly I was like cool
all right but let me take you there the
hundred meter final I had qualified
specifically I knew exactly what I
wanted to do and that was to be at that
final so I can get a medal action
oriented what did I do
I did everything I needed to do I did
push-ups that morning I was ready I had
my pump on and lastly I mapped it out
this was in October I had mapped out
from October all the way back in to my
very first training session and I was
hungry so here I am walking through the
stadium it’s like forty to sixty
thousand people you know I’m giving high
fives as I walk in there I’m excited one
lady kind of like she brought her baby
in my face I was not focused I said no
move that baby I’m not ready I don’t
mean to be mean move that baby so I got
to the start line and I’m focused they
go across the line
it’s like Lane to some guy form like
trinidad-tobago
cool Lane three think it was that you’re
making guy wasn’t bolt but he was doing
his thing waiting for a Nigerian guy and
of course not focused on him but the
second the camera came on me I was ready
I had my like my Sam shuffle didn’t look
that great
but I was ready I’m gonna set the stage
for you I remember this like it was
yesterday
so the starter he has like a starter’s
pistol in his hand and he has a British
action accent
so he’s like runners on your mark and I
got to tell you as soon as he said this
everybody in the stadium completely
quiet so eerie forty to sixty thousand
people and they’re all staring at like
the line so we’re all there getting
limber getting ready the next command
you hear so kind of raise your butt up
I got it till you had the gun gone I
remember thinking to myself any noise I
was going somebody burnt for it it
sneezed I was like this is my race I’ve
set it and it’s it’s happening I don’t
care
luckily you know nobody had a cold that
day
they had their buck least it tastes
nasty I know so back back to the race
runners on your mark set the gun goes
and I had the start of my life but the
people who know track-and-field
something went really wrong though so
you have these starting blocks that
supposed to stay in the ground mine for
whatever reason Dannette pins flew back
disadvantaged
everybody’s two steps ahead of me but I
said to myself focus five strides ten
strides twenty strides eighty strides
forty meters 60 meters 80 meters 90
meters I look left I look right I see no
one I lean up the line and immediately I
walk up to the screen it’s a big screen
and it shows the results I’m like I
better be gold gold Jamaica kind of like
silver Great Britain
this point I’m like okay I wanted to win
I didn’t win let me get a medal I look
up I see bronze honestly I don’t
remember the name it wasn’t mine I was
this one I’m like man this sucks you
know not only
that’s the face I made not only was I
you know mentally frustrated because I
specifically knew what I wanted to
achieve I did the actions and they did
everything I needed to do to do it and I
mapped it out but even emotionally I had
my mom watching my dad watching cousins
my kindergarten class everybody was
watching and they saw me fail and lastly
I had always had issues with my hips
like injury after injury after injury
because those blocks had slipped it was
an awkward position and my hips were in
sanely pain like I was in some serious
pain and that turned out to be the
biggest of my problems but it took years
I told you years after this meet I had
surgery I felt like the oldest man alive
I had a hip surgery broken hips labral
tear it’s what they call it took years
before I really got back on track and
what it really took is me connecting
with this new coach that I had here in
Toronto his name is Desi Williams it’s
him right up there that’s my coach right
now and he gave me a new framework so as
you can see first thing he told me first
their training Sam work hard no excuses
I was the type of person after I got
injured and continued to get injured I
had so many excuses but I took that put
it in my running days I was happy cool
put it in my running any excess energy
that I had I put it into my running the
second thing he taught me is be ready to
deviate from your path and again this is
so incredibly key for me because I was
so focused on a to be now I needed to
learn how to be flexible and lastly he
told me to do more than just sprint and
what this meant was he said Sam you have
the opportunity you have the ability to
inspire the next generation and he said
this you know over six to seven times
over the course of like a month or so
and what this took the form of was
speaking at schools first and I loved it
but the one thing I didn’t like is I
would speak now it literally disappeared
like I i wouldn’t connect with those
schools again so I would speak one day
and then there was no continuity but
luckily for me an organization came to
me it’s a guy his name is Steve messler
he has this organization it’s called
classroom champions amazing what they do
is they get Olympians Paralympians
Olympic hopefuls and they put them in
the classrooms of kids across Canada and
they teach virtual lessons so I’m
teaching lessons on YouTube on skype I
can be in Europe and they’re seeing my
lessons and it’s awesome
so to be able to have that opportunity
to do that and have that continuity ten
months of the year was awesome I taught
lessons on steps to success goal-setting
perseverance teamwork friendship and the
list goes on but where this gets
interesting and where I truly found my
passion is one day I decided I wanted to
go and surprise one of my classrooms
because I have a classroom here in
Toronto I have one in waiver and
Saskatchewan born in Calgary Alberta one
in Welland Ontario if you know where
that is and I went into this classroom
these kids came and they all hugged me
there was this one kid in particular his
name was Collins and I’ll never forget
this moment little black kid he reminded
me of me Kenya he hugged me he looked up
to me and said Sam because of you
I believe I could be an athlete I kind
of had that kind of hug them back more
my favorite kid
after that he said to me Sam because of
you
I believe I can go to university I was
like okay he’s getting deep
you know you hugged me a little tighter
and then he just looked right up in my
eyes and he said Sam because you look
like me and you talk like me I believe I
can be successful and I’m not an
emotional guy but at that point I was
like this is what it’s all about
you know I want to be able to inspire
the next generation and funny enough
they got that picture right on cue I
don’t smile like that every day trust me
but Collins is that one right up next to
me with his head on my chest and I
realized that’s why I do what I do being
an international athlete has made me
develop this 360 degree vision of what
success really is now I’m healthy I’m
strong I’m fast again but this time on
my journey to 2020 I can’t wait to bring
my classrooms all you youth and anybody
who I come in contact with because I
believe that is much from calling and I
have a new definition for success my
definition for success is this success
is bigger than just a 2b and reaching
that goal you guys can jot this down
it’s bigger than that success is being
able to take situations that may be
unfavorable take things that are are
going against you and making them
positive and maybe even being like me in
developing these things into your
passion that to me is what success is
with that being said not only am i proud
to be a community ambassador I’m proud
to be a volunteer I’m proud to be a TEDx
tío youth speaker
and I am proud to be a classroom
champions mentor thank you
[Music]
you
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