No self-respecting gay man working in marketing and public relations will let the opportunity to work with a gold medalist Olympic swimmer slip through his fingers. South Africa made history at the Athens Olympic Games when our relay team struck gold and became overnight sport sensations.

Athens Olympic Gold Medalist Lyndon Ferns with manager Christian Smit

When I landed and signed the first gold medalist swimmer, it was a blur of excitement and euphoria. I imagined sponsors queuing around the block to throw money at us for endorsement. I was dreaming of private jets and exotic photoshoots and having a jacuzzi filled with Louis Roederer Cristal. Then reality set in and eventually I wondered which of the ten commandments and seven deadly sins I floundered to anger G-d.

South African Swimming Relay Team wins gold in Athens - Image Credit

When the excitement died there was a lot more horror than hoorah. In the minefield of sports federations and regulators there was so much red tape it became a nightmare just to choose a suit to swim in. Certain countries pay their gold medalists a fortune. Some don’t and I operated in the latter. Parents were forced to make sacrifices and skimp because it is impossible to train and compete on this level and work a regular job.

This is why I am so passionate about @sportspodium, what we stand for and what we are going to do.

To help level the playing field. To have a part in rewarding athletes with crypto tokens and see to it that everyone gets a share. That reward can go to everyone who participates, and not to greedy administrators. Blockchain technology makes this possible. @sportspodium is the platform to do this. Get on board to help us achieve this goal, do it for yourself, your competitive kids, your club. Let’s tear down hierarchy and revolutionize the sports industry together with @sportspodium.

Please share this post far and wide and follow us @sportspodium for more information.

---

If you missed our earlier blog posts, please see the links below:

• New platform launching for blockchain based social media platform aimed at the global sport community
• The need for @sportspodium – What are we aiming to solve?
• Who is the SportsPodium Target market?
• Background to SportsPodium - ICO to be announced!
• Why SportsPodium is such a good idea
• Why was Sports Podium Created?
• Sport Statistics - Soccer
• The role of role modelling as a driver for success
• What is the most supported sports in the world?
• The top 10 most played sports in the world
• SportsPodium is sponsoring Steem Saturday
• Badminton - The second most played sport in the world.
• What Steem Saturday Johannesburg is going to accomplish?
• Steem Saturday Johannesburg – The Venue
• Success of Steem Saturday 2016
• Steem Saturday Johannesburg 2017 is now open for registration