Tales from the Diplomatic Corps 7

Hey folks!

Today's story is a little bit different from the other ones, because my first memory with Fergus actually happened before Singapore. After this story, you will understand a little better why Ferg, nickname "William Wallace" (© Devon & Callum), is so telegenic: It's just his vast video experience he can draw from.

In addition to our public Young Ambassador group, we also have a private one to exchange ideas, discuss different issues and just share the latest chat and news. When we were appointed Young Ambassadors, the IOC team sent out a PDF with the link to a Facebook group in it, kindly asking us to join the gang. I was recommended by my NOC rather early, which is I guess why I was among the first to be contacted by the IOC and thus joined the group.

At first, only few ambassadors had joined and everybody was a little shy (Which you wouldn't guess in a million years once you saw us walking down Orchard Street as a group). Things changed drastically when Serge from Rwanda joined and started posting on the group's wall. Among other things, he wanted to encourage people to join by stating:

"The last ambassador to join this group owes us 30 push-ups!"

He was of course only joking and after some funny comments on his post, we went back to usual. Time went by and after some weeks, nearly every ambassador had joined - except for Fergus that is. To his credit, I have to say at this point that it was not his fault, but rather due to the fact that he was only informed by his NOC a week or so before the seminar in Singapore started. Anyways, being a true British gentleman, Ferg introduced himself upon joining the group. Back then, I remember Serge's comment and said to Fergus:

"Welcome aboard Fergus! As my dear colleague Serge will agree, you owe us 30 push-ups!"

Again, I was only teasing him, but little did I know that Ferg was a real trooper. When I turned the PC back home that night, a video was waiting for me. It showed Fergus, down on the floor, doing 30 push-ups! (Unfortunately, he has removed the video since, however, you can see here what Fergus doing push-ups looks like)

From that moment on, I knew that Fergus definitely had YOG DNA. Because in life, people often challenge you in jest, because they know that you won't yield to their challenge anyway. So the best thing you can do is accept the challenge and show them what you have got. Because if you are willing to take challenges that don't matter, you are well prepared for the moment they do!