Sporting a jeans and T-shirt, Edwin Moses was the first to arrive on Sunday for the Laureus awards function. Accessible and down-to-earth, the 400m hurdles Olympic champion in 1976 and '84, Moses has been a regular feature in the Laureus awards show.
As the Chairman of the Laureus Sports Academy, Moses talked about his association with Laureus for the last 10 years. He told The Hindu , “ten years ago, I was privileged to be asked to become Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy. At that time this felt like being made captain of the greatest sports team ever put together — of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time.”
Real purpose
Moses then revealed that the real purpose of the Academy, apart from honouring top sportsmen and sportswomen, was to reach out to the under-privileged kids. “The Laureus World Sports awards are the premier honours on the international sporting calendar.
“Of course there is a more serious purpose to our endeavours: through the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, we hope to be able to use the power of sport to affect positive social change in communities around the world.
“Wherever you look, you see Laureus Academy members striving to establish new humanitarian projects. These are men and women who achieved what they did in sport because they never gave up. That energy and drive is now going into Laureus and the beneficiaries are the underprivileged youngsters around the world.
“We have come a long way, but with the magnitude of the problems we are currently facing in the world, we have a long way to go.”
The 54-year-old legend, known for his pioneering work in the field of drug testing and various other reforms as an individual in athletics, said the academy has had a good beginning but has a long way to go to achieve its noble objectives.
‘Proud'
“I am very proud with what has been achieved. From a small beginning, the Foundation, with the encouragement of its Global Partners, Mercedes-Benz, IWC Schaffhausen and Vodafone, now supports over 70 humanitarian projects worldwide that have helped to improve the lives of more than one million children.
“Ten years on, nothing has changed my belief that sport is one of the great hopes for the future. Sport can build bridges and bring people together in a way that nothing else can.”
This is exactly what Nelson Mandela, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, said in the Laureus' inaugural year in 2000 held in Monte Carlo, “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, unite and is a language the youth understand.”
For Laureus, it's been an eventful, colourful and purposeful 10 years.
