The best 200/400m sprinter in history, Michael was the first man to be ranked number one in the world at both events, and the first to win both at an Olympic Games. He broke world records in the 200m, 400m and the 4 X 400m relay and established a record of 12 Olympic and World Championship gold medals during his 11-year career.

Post athletics, Michael created Michael Johnson Performance, a sports performance company providing training to athletes of all ages, in any sport. Every MJP programme is designed to help athletes reach their full potential.

He recently founded Michael Johnson Young Leaders – designed to provide young people from around the world who have overcome adversity, with the confidence, skills, and resources to achieve a better future for themselves and others, by harnessing their passion for sport, leadership, and community. He serves on the board of the Laureus World Sports Academy and as an Ambassador for Beyond Sport. He has received widespread acclaim as an Olympics analyst for BBC Sport and is a leading motivational speaker.

John Amaechi

John is a chartered scientist, an elected Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, a best-selling New York Times author and a Research Fellow at the University of East London. An organisational psychologist he is the founder of APS - a company that “partners with organisations to provide broad-spectrum, evidence-based solutions to a variety of workplace challenges.

John played more than 300 games in the NBA for Cleveland, Orlando and in Utah alongside John Stockton and Karl Malone. He was the first NBA player to come out as gay.

Gwen Berry

A two-time Olympian in the hammer throw and the 2019 Pan American Games champion, Gwen was named the 2020 Toyota Humanitarian Award recipient for her continued activism bringing awareness to, and educating others on issues of social justice, beginning her work after the police killing of Michael Brown in her home town of Ferguson, Missouri.

When Gwen won gold at the Pan American Games she raised her fist near the end of 'The Star Spangled Banner', a protest against injustice in the US. She was reprimanded by the IOC who placed her on probation for 12 months.

At the US Olympic Trials for the Tokyo games, Gwen turned away from the flag when she was on the podium and draped a t-shirt that said 'activist athlete' over her head. She again raised her fist when stepping out to compete in Tokyo.

Cathy Freeman

Cathy was born in Mackay, Queensland. Her mother was born on Palm Island and her father in Woorabinda, both on Aboriginal missions. From her first race at five-years-old, she claimed that she was ‘hooked’ on running.

She won a gold medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in the 4×100M relay, and in 1992 became the first Australian Aboriginal to compete in the Olympics. Two years later at the Commonwealth Games she won gold medals in the 200 and 400 metres but caused controversy when she carried both the Australian and Aboriginal flags on her victory lap.

In 1996 she won silver at the Atlanta Olympics. She was chosen to light the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony in Sydney four years later, an act some regarded as a move toward Aboriginal reconciliation. She would go on to win gold in the 400m, again carrying both flags with her on her victory lap. Cathy retired from athletics in 2003.

Renee Montgomery

WNBA champion Renee was a two-time All American at UCONN, winning the National Championship as a senior as the Huskies went 39-0. She was the fourth overall pick of the Minnesota Lynx in the 2009 WNBA Draft and went on to win two WNBA championships while also being named an All-Star and sixth Woman of the Year in her 11-year professional career (she also played in Atlanta and Connecticut).

Renee retired in 2021 after sitting out the 2020 season to focus on social reform and justice. She is now part-owner and Vice President of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream.

Francois Pienaar

Rugby player, Francois, led South Africa to victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the first major tournament held in post-apartheid South Africa. He was praised by President Nelson Mandela for his leadership and his attempts to reach out to all sectors of South African society.

Growing up, Francois won an athletic scholarship to the Rand Afrikaans University (now the University of Johannesburg) to play rugby and study law. In 1989 he joined the Transvaal Province team, winning the Super 10, Currie Cup, and Lion Cup. He received his first cap for the Springboks in 1993.

Francois and Nelson Mandela are the subject of a book by the author John Carlin called Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation, which became the 2009 film Invictus with Francois played by Matt Damon.