ABU DHABI // The British rowing hero Sir Steve Redgrave won his first Olympic medal before Adil Khalid was even born.
Redgrave landed the first of five consecutive gold medals at Los Angeles in 1984, aged 22 - the same age the Emirati sailor is today.
Just two weeks shy of his 49th birthday, the Olympian tells Khalid that he had many role models that helped him become a champion.
And Khalid listens carefully as the sports giant tells him to embrace the role model the young sportsman has already become in the UAE.
"A lot of the time, there is a lot of pressure. Take that role model on and relish it,"Redgrave advises. "Don't take it as a burden. There's got to be an enjoyment side of it, even if you've got the whole weight of the country on you."
Khalid says he can feel the weight on his shoulders, but knows he is living out his fantasy.
"It's my dream to be one of the best sailors in the world, ever since I was a kid. I was always pushing myself training and had great support from my family, and sailing club."
The hard work paid off. Khalid is the only Emirati crew member on Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing's entry in the Volvo Ocean Race. He is also the first Arab to compete in the event .
"This is great too for the younger generation to see, and to get people interested in this," he says.
He has already made history as the first Emirati to represent his country in sailing, at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
He and Redgrave have both carried their country's flag in the opening ceremony of the Olympics.
As a member of the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team, Khalid will have to endure 39,000 nautical miles of open ocean in the around-the-world race, which will last eight months. Abu Dhabi is one of the 10 host ports for the event, which starts in Alicante, Spain, in October and finishes in Galway, Ireland, in July next year.
The pair met yesterday on-board the racing team's 70ft training yacht, along with skipper Ian Walker, and Redgrave took the opportunity to offer the younger sportsman some advice on life and sailing.
"Take the experiences. Within sailing there are many different elements involved. Pick a long-term goal and everything you do now should be working towards that even if you may go into different areas. What you do now is working towards that final goal," Redgrave tells Khalid.
"To me, all the focus was literally all about trying to win the gold medal. Every second of the day, 24/7, I was asking myself how could I be a better athlete and make myself go faster."
Khalid says he, too, wants to be an Olympic champion. "I would like to go to the 2016 Olympics and represent my country again. It is a great dream for me and for my country."
Khalid says the Olympics helped with his preparations for the Volvo Ocean Race.
"I learnt how to manage a lot of things and learnt a lot of things in the four years before I went to the Olympics. There was the training, but also the discipline."
By training in Europe, he says there was more competition, which pushed him - a feeling he is getting again on-board the racing team's training yacht. The rest of the crew so far are a mix of Europeans and New Zealanders.
Walker, who has two Olympic silver medals to his name, is showing Khalid the ropes on-board the vessel.
"I've learnt so much on things like respect, how to live on-board and how to improve my skills," Khalid says.
While racing, the boat will be ploughing through all kinds of weather, 24 hours a day, every day. The longest leg of the race is from New Zealand to Brazil, which will take just over three weeks.
But even as he prepares for the longest race of his career, the Olympics, says Redgrave, are what will make Khalid an elite sportsman.
"If you can get Olympic success, that is absolutely huge. Not just for you, but you'd be a hero in your country and raise the profile of sailing in the Emirates, and in sport in general," he says.
eharnan@thnational.ae
