Kriss Akabusi. What a life. And what an episode it makes of the BALANCE podcast.

Effectively left to fend for himself and his younger brother from a young age, the beloved former British athlete ended up in care homes, before joining the army aged 16.

There, Kriss, now 60, was spotted as a runner of considerable talent and ended up representing the Armed Forces before stepping up to run for Great Britain.

Across a glittering career, Akabusi always shone at the major events, where he won an incredible 10 medals, including a famous gold at the 4x400m men’s final at the 1991 world championships in Tokyo.

Since hanging up his spikes, Kriss has become a hugely successful motivational speaker and is currently studying existentialism and psychotherapy. Kriss talked all of this and much more as we sat down at his beautiful home for a candid chat for the latest episode of the BALANCE podcast.

We hope you’ve got a notepad ready as this is packed with great advice and wisdom.

Click here to download via Apple and here to download via Spotify. And it should be available from anywhere else you might happen to download podcasts. You’ll also find our first five episodes.

To the uninitiated, in each episode, deputy editor James Gill (occasionally joined by founder/editor Sophie Scott) chats with luminaries from entertainment, wellness, sport, business and beyond about how to optimise health, happiness and performance. And should you want to rate it five stars, please know we won’t be offended.

You can also get in touch on [email protected]