Angelo Taylor visits troops in the Middle East

In the last in our series on ‘athletes making a difference’ spikesmag.com spoke to Olympic 400m hurdles champion Angelo Taylor about his eye-opening trip to the Middle East where he helped motivate US troops.

During a rollercoaster career two-time Olympic champion Angelo Taylor has had to cope with his fair share of ups and downs and has been put through the emotional mill with long-term injury and off-track issues.

Yet even he marvelled at the "mental toughness" shown by the US troops during a one-week goodwill tour of the Middle East last month [January '09].

Taylor was one of four athletes – the others were gymnast Shannon Miller, speed skater Joey Cheek and diver Laura Wilkinson – who embarked on the Pro Sports MVP Olympic Heroes Tour to raise the morale of the US military.

Landing in Kuwait, the quartet spent a day in the sovereign Arab Emirates before being transported by Black Hawk helicopter to more than 20 US bases in the war-torn nation of Iraq during the whistlestop tour.

Georgia-based Taylor was only too happy participate in Q&A sessions, sign autographs and pose for pictures with the troops in an effort to lift spirits – and it was an opportunity he truly embraced.

"When I was told about the tour, I was like, sure, I’d love to go there and support the troops," said Taylor, who has cousins in the reserve Army.

"Every day, they risk their lives, so that others may be free," he continued. "While I represent our country in the arena of track and field, they represent in the arena of freedom."

Each day Taylor and his fellow Olympians rose at 6am and took in at least three military bases per day before returning at 9-10pm. Never at any stage did the 30-year-old US athlete feel a threat to his safety and he even managed to maintain his basic fitness by running 30 minutes each morning before he was scheduled to leave the base.

Many of the troops, because they were serving on the front line, were not even given the chance to watch the Beijing Olympics, yet Taylor said he was overwhelmed by the positive energy he experienced on his first ever visit to Iraq.

"Many of the soldiers told me how much they appreciated us coming over," explained Taylor, who climbed to joint eight on the all-time 400m hurdler list with his 47.25 winning run at the Beijing Games. "A lot of them told me how they used to do running and they said how much we inspired them to do there sports. I did actually meet some guys who were decent athletes. I met one guy who used to run in the mile and the two miles and ran some decent times – 9:05 for two miles."

The US athlete, who won the first of his two Olympic titles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, was also given a stripped down example of life in the military. He slept in small military beds and experienced a rationed army diet. He recalls most nights sleeping on just one thin sheet in cold conditions – it was a revelation.

"I have a huge amount of respect for those guys," he explained. "They put up with tough living conditions and some of the bases don’t even have running water. It’s a tough job. You are going to have to be on your Ps and Qs at all times and mentally tough to deal with that. I definitely learned a lot about the army. The chain of command the daily tasks they go through. It is tough – a lot them had mixed emotions about being over there. Some of them didn’t want to be over there and others said this is what I’m born to do. But there was a real camaraderie among a lot of soldiers."

Taylor admitted a life in the army was still not a personal "goal" but after his week-long experience in the Middle East he could see why people were tempted to join because of the discipline and education it can instill into a soldier. He also admitted he may be tempted to return on a similar trip to Afghanistan in the future but he assured spikesmag.com he was not about to forget his Middle East experience.

"Some soldiers have kept in contact with me via email," he said. "I’ve got a lot of emails, many of them saying they were appreciative of me coming over. One guy has asked me about how to qualify for certain [athletics] meets. It makes you feel good to give them some hope and something to look forward to. It is tough over there."