Fastest Man In Africa - Nigerians Olusoji Fasuba joins British Royal Navy

Olusoji Fasuba

Nigeria's Olusoji Fasuba is the African 100m record holder, an Olympic bronze medallist and an indoor 60m world champion, making him one of the fastest men on the planet.

But Olusoji — nicknamed "Flash" by his shipmates has just completed nine months of training to become a logistics specialist in the Royal Navy.

The sailor, 27, whose mother was born in Jamaica, decided to retire from professional running to provide a more settled life for his wife and baby daughter.

Before joining the Navy last May, Olusojihas claimed bronze in the 4x100m relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics, gold in the 100m and 4x100m relay at the 2007 All-African Games and gold at the 2008 Indoor Championships at 60m.

In 2006, he set an African record in the 100m of 9.85 seconds, just 0.27 of a second slower than the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt. He said: "I've had a very good career in athletics and been there with the big boys, but I was looking to the future and wanted to settle.

"My father used to work for the Nigerian Navy, so from a young age it was all about theNavy”."Some of my friends are serving in the British Army and tried to persuade me to join, but for me it had to be the Royal Navy”.

"Training has been my way of life for a long time. Growing up in Nigeria, discipline is very strict, so that aspect of being in the Navy wasn't really a shock."

Excited ... Olusoji Fasuba is looking forward to life in the Navy

The junior sailor hopes to complete a full career in the Royal Navy and maybe transfer to the Officer Corps at some stage.

He is keen to apply for British citizenship, but was eligible for his current post due to Nigeria's Commonwealth membership.

Olusoji lives with his wife, 400m runner Ngozi Nwokocha, and their seven-month-old daughter Annabelle in Plymouth, Devon.

Medal winner ... Olusoji with wife Ngozi

In his new role he will be responsible for ensuring that his unit has everything it needs, ordering and storing millions of pounds worth of equipment, from engineering parts to stationery.

He said: "In this job I'll be working in an office or a storeroom and I'll be able to keep my athletics as a hobby. "I'm excited about my first posting as I've never had what you would call a regular job."

New recruit ... Olusoji Fasuba in training

He has also revealed he dreams of becoming a member of the Royal Navy bobsleigh team — and will soon be travelling to Austria for his first try-out at the Inter-Service games.Olusoji was inspired by 1993 film Cool Runnings — a comedy loosely based on the true story of the Jamaican bobsled team's debut in the 1988 Winter Olympics.

He added: "As soon as I saw the film Cool Runnings, I thought 'I could do that'.

"I've never done it before and may not like it so I've given myself five chances to see how things go.

"My ambition is to represent Britain at bobsleigh at a Winter Olympics."


MORE PICS OF Olusoji Fasuba on the Tracks below;

Olusoji A. Fasuba of Nigeria (#6), Dwain Chambers (2nd from R) of Great Britain Kim Collins (R) of St Kitts and Nevis in joint second in the 60m Mens Final at the 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships at the Palau Lluis Puig on March 7, 2008 in Valencia, Spain. Olusoji Won The Race

Olusoji A. Fasuba of Nigeria (#6), Dwain Chambers (2nd from R) of Great Britain Kim Collins (R) of St Kitts and Nevis in joint second in the 60m Mens Final at the 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships at the Palau Lluis Puig on March 7, 2008 in Valencia, Spain. Olusoji Won The Race

(L-R) Olusoji Fasuba of Nigeria and Tyson Gay of the United States compete in the Men's 100m Heats at the National Stadium on Day 7 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 15, 2008 in Beijing, China.

(L-R) Olusoji Fasuba of Nigeria and Tyson Gay of the United States compete in the Men's 100m Heats at the National Stadium on Day 7 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 15, 2008 in Beijing, China.

(L-R) Olusoji Fasuba of Nigeria and Aaron Rouge-Serret of Austrlia compete during the Men's 4 x 100m Relay First Round on day seven of the 11th IAAF World Athletics Championships on August 31, 2007 at the Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan.

Source: royalnavy.mod.uk