This story kicks off a series of stories over the coming months that highlights some of the top voices in the sport, past and present.
History matters to Anderson Emerole.
It’s the field of study that he’s witnessed countless times in the sport of track and field, which ignited his passion for the sport. On May 31, 2008, he was in Ichan Stadium in New York when Usain Bolt stormed down the runway to break the then World Record in the 100m.
In 2015, he was in the crowd at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing, China – also known as the Bird’s Nest, to witness Wayde Van Niekerk break the African record in the 400m and to witness Ashton Eaton break the World Record in the decathlon.
Now, through his platforms Track and Field Black History and the Final Leg, Emerole is looking to give a voice to the voiceless, as well as mesh the lessons and stories of the past into the present, which will give hope for the future.
TRACK AND FIELD BLACK HISTORY
Track and Field Black History kicked off in 2020. Emerole had been living and working in Japan, and they started their COVID lockdown in February. While in isolation, he started posting pictures and quotes of past athletes for a couple of months on his instagram stories during the pandemic.
When the protests across the country after the killing of George Floyd took place, he started posting posts on his individual instagram page instead of his instagram story. His first post was sharing the story of Vincent Matthews and Wayne Callet’s protest at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany. That post led him to make frequent posts of the stories of black athletes, which then led him to creating the Track and Field Black history page and telling the stories in the form of a podcast.
“Some of these athletes are athletes that really had significant impact on the sport but their stories might have gone unnoticed because A, time had passed on, or B, they were black and they didn’t get that recognition back in the day,” he said. “Being able to learn about them myself and also being able to share those stories – that was really, really dope.”
One reason that Emerole has a passion for the stories, the people and the events of the past is because of the power that they have to influence the future.
“I’m really interested in the future, and I like to be able to learn from the past to inform the present and future,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that haven’t worked in the past that we shouldn’t replicate, but there are alot of things that have worked that we could replicate. Just learning about those different things peaks my interest, and I apply it to things we do now and things in the future.”
He’s interviewed legends such as Judi Brown Clarke, Steve Lewis, Mark Everrett just to name a few.
In terms of his interview style, Emerole says that he really tries to dive in to get as much of a holistic picture of his guests’ lives as possible. He asks questions about their role models, their transition through different phases of life, etc. But the one thing that he seeks to learn the most about is who they are as people.
“I really find interest in them as human beings,” he said. “I really think that really brings a lot out of them.”
Emerole has felt the love from others when it comes to the work that he’s done through his Track and Field Black History page and podcast. The stories that are being told are not forgotten, or in vain.
“I think shedding some of the light on the stories that might not have gotten recognized before, shedding that light for them and bringing them to the forefront – I’ve seen a lot of these athletes appreciate and recognize what’s being done,” he said. “A lot of athletes I think they’ve been seeing these little stories that might have gotten lost, they’re getting a little appreciation for what I’ve been doing.”
Emerole hopes that the lessons, the wisdom and the life experiences that others hear in his interviews has a positive impact for each listener.
“I really want people to be able to see some of the history, see where these athletes came from, take some of these stories and understand how they can apply some elements to what they’re doing now, or maybe learn from some of the things that didn’t work before and make improvements now,” he said. “That’s what I really want to do.”
THE FINAL LEG
Emerole also has an additional platform called the Final Leg, which kicked off in 2017. It started off as a blog that recapped the different track meets that were happening. He moved to Japan in 2018, and decided to extend the platform to YouTube. He had one goal for the page.
“My initial goal for the Final Leg in terms of YouTube was that I just one to make one video a week for the entire year,” he said. “That was my only goal. I didn’t care who watched it, I didn’t care if anything happened.”
Needless to say, he’s surpassed that goal.
The goal of the Final Leg is now to give voice and attention to every athlete, especially those who may go under the radar.
“What I’ve really taken an opportunity to think about now and what I want to do going forward with it is really highlighting athletes who don’t get as much recognition but truly deserve recognition,” he said.
He now has a weekly athlete spotlight on the page that highlights athletes’ impressive performances that tend to go unnoticed. He believes that all athletes should be celebrated and that all athletes are important.
“All of these athletes are absolutely world-class athletes,” he said. “These athletes deserve some recognition as well, whether they made a team, whether they didn’t, these are some of the best athletes in the world. Just because they finished behind a world record from Sydney McLaughlin or an amazing time by Abby Steiner doesn’t mean that they’re less important, they should also get as much recognition.”
You can find Emerole’s Track and Field Black History page on Instagram, as well as anywhere that you listen to podcasts, while you can follow the Final Leg exclusively on YouTube.
