SANI BROWN Abdul Hakim

General
TURNING PROFESSIONAL
In November 2019 he announced his decision to turn professional, forgoing his eligibility for NCAA competition in the United States of America. He intended to continue his studies at the University of Florida. "I was considering it after the NCAA Championships in June 2019. After the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, I had a chance to talk to US triple jumper Christian Taylor, who became a professional athlete before graduating from the University of Florida. He told me, 'You should do what you want to do. You should prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games without regret'." (tellerreport.com, 10 Feb 2020; number.bunshun.jp, 19 Nov 2019; nikkansports.com, 15 Nov 2019; tokyo-sports.co.jp, 30 Jul 2020)

STUDYING OVERSEAS
In 2017 he relocated to enrol at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL, United States of America. He decided to study sports management, with a view to working in the industry after he retires from competition. "I started to think about that in high school. Very few go on to study in the United States of America, and it was something I didn't know anything about. Curiosity was my biggest reason for going. I want to do a sports-related job not only in Japan, but something with a more global scope. My most interesting class was one in which athletes like me explore careers after retirement together. I realised that athletes never know how long they can compete. In the class, I presented a plan to become an agent and help athletes. I feel Japan is still separated from other parts of the world, so I hope to serve as a bridge that enables athletes to choose various future career paths." (the-japan-news.com, 20 Aug 2019; reuters.com, 26 Jun 2017)

HERITAGE AND LANGUAGES
He was born in Japan to a Ghanaian father and a Japanese mother. Before he began studying in the United States of America, he was concerned about how he would adapt to the language. "I wondered how I'd do with English since I'd mostly forgotten it. My family spoke English at home when I was a child, but we switched to Japanese after my father, who's from Ghana, improved his Japanese skills. In the Netherlands [where he was based for about half a year before entering university], I picked up English again and my anxiety mostly disappeared." (IAAF, 17 Jul 2015; the-japan-news.com, 20 Aug 2019)