REID Leon

General
REPRESENTING IRELAND
Born in England, he was adopted at age 11 by Claire Russell, who was from Wexford, Ireland. He represented Great Britain at junior level, including at the 2013 European Junior Championships in Rieti, Italy, before competing for Northern Ireland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. "My switch to Northern Ireland was a family-made decision. While I was out at the [2013 European Junior] championships, my brother suddenly passed away and it opened my eyes I didn't really know any of my Irish family. After speaking to them at the funeral, it came around that I could run for Northern Ireland as my [birth] mum was born there." In 2018 he began representing Ireland. "I ran for the country [Great Britain] from the age of 15 to 20-21 and I got medals in every competition they asked me to go to. I was a role model and doing school visits. Next thing you know it's, 'We don't need you anymore, we're going to pick someone else' - there's just no loyalty, no explanations, no nothing. With the Ireland team it was just like walking into a family and I can't even explain how amazing it is for me to be in this environment. My whole [birth] mum's side is Northern Irish and my foster mum was born in Wexford [Ireland]. My dad is English and Jamaican, so I'm actually more Irish than English." (bbc.co.uk, 06 May 2020, 27 Oct 2020; expressandstar.com, 05 May 2014; rte.ie, 28 May 2020)

DIFFICULT CHILDHOOD
His mother struggled with drug addiction, and he spent time in 14 different foster homes. He says he uses the memories of this time as motivation in athletics. "It builds fire in the belly. I had nothing, everyone always writes you off when you are in foster care. At school I was always messing around, I was always fidgeting, [being] the class clown probably because I didn't have a stable home. I went to 10 different schools." (bbc.co.uk, 15 Dec 2015; tokyo2020.org, 16 Jun 2020)

TIPS FROM THE BEST
In early 2020 he spent time training in South Africa with South African sprinter Wayde van Niekerk, who won gold in the 400m at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. "With Wayde, he runs around the bend really well, really clean and efficient, and I don't. So rather than be like, 'How do you do that?' I just want to know what his feeling is, where he is mentally. So I can try and get myself into his shoes, rather than copy his technique." (tokyo2020.org, 16 Jun 2020)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
In 2020 he was working on developing a clothing brand aimed at athletes. "I feel like there's a gap in the market. The production will be done in China and hopefully it will be the same company that do all the Nike stuff." He also has a podcast through which he gives insight into his life and athletics, and he has worked with British mentoring company Impact Mentoring in Bristol, England. (LinkedIn profile, 01 Dec 2018; leonminimanifest.buzzsprout.com, 23 Mar 2020; bbc.co.uk, 06 May 2020)