At age 14, for a regular high school student, one must be having the time of their life. But not for Richard Samuel Stanislaus, he decided to focus on athletics at school and took part in combined events & found national-level success in the high jump & triple jump. He made it to the national finals and picked up medals mainly in the high jump & triple jump.

Injury caught up with him at an early age, the following year he started experiencing back pain which meant he could barely train. "I was constantly stressed as I knew I needed to train to improve but every time I would train I would be in pain. There were times I couldn't sleep at night, and I would often have to sleep on the floor to relieve the pain. I still competed in pain and just lied to my family and coach and said the pain had gone."

And for the succeeding years, Sam failed to make the top 8 and was in so much pain that he finally admitted how bad the injury had gotten him.

Sam was diagnosed with Spondylolisthesis, a condition whereby the vertebrae slip forward and crush the nerve below it. The only way to fix it was through surgery, which Sam underwent in. Following 3 years of not being able to train and just rehabilitate, he slowly got back to a national level and started competing again. However, the back problems meant he could only jump in training once a week and too much training would again lead to pain and him having to rest.

After 9 months of not being able to tolerate the pain anymore, Sam decided that he would move into coaching rather than competing. It was a huge struggle for him physically and mentally to accept that he could no longer train and compete at the level he wanted to that other athletes could. Instead of competing, Sam used it as a motivation to become a better coach than he ever was as an athlete.

Just like any other coaches, Sam's goal one day is to coach athletes to the World champs and Olympic games. He's been coaching track and field athletics for 11 years now, majority of his success has come in combine athletic events like the decathlon and heptathlon. Sam prefer to focus on the athlete's rather than the events, numbers, and results.

After 9 months of not being able to tolerate the pain anymore, Sam decided that he would move into coaching rather than competing. It was a huge struggle for him physically and mentally to accept that he could no longer train and compete at the level he wanted to that other athletes could. Instead of competing, Sam used it as a motivation to become a better coach than he ever was as an athlete.

For Sam, he wants to make sure others have the opportunities he never had. He wants people to be able to fulfill their potential and remove the barriers to achieving success. Sam already had multiple athletes selected from all over the world. He plans to keep working with junior & senior international athletes to one day compete in the World champs and Olympic games.

Until today, the only challenge to Sam's coaching in track and field and athletics is location, facilities & finance. It is difficult financially and Sam's got to do a lot of sacrifices because as a coach he rarely gets paid in track and field in the UK. That is why he recently started using social media channels like TikTok, paid partnerships and selling training programs online to get his funds.

This year, Sam is currently working with 10 athletes as they prepare for the 2023 season. Despite all these challenges, Sam never gives up on his athletes. He always tries to be innovative in different ways to help them. Sam is always thinking of new ways to engage with his athletes and get the best out of them. Even during this pandemic, he has been able to successfully coach his athletes and help them reach their potential.

Eventually, our problems and challenges make us realize our true potential and what we're meant to do in life. For Richard Samuel Stanislaus, it was an injury that led him to become a great coach and help athletes achieve their dreams.