Kriss Akabusi is a British athletics legend, who boasts three European Champion titles and status as a World Champion in the 4x400m relay. Kriss is best known for winning Gold at the 1990 European Championships, achieving a time of 47.92 seconds, beating David Hemerey's 22-year-old British 400m hurdles record. Having since retired from competitive athletics, Kriss has enjoyed a decorated broadcasting career, famed for being the Presenter of Channel 4's "The Big Breakfast". Also hired as a professional motivational and keynote speaker, Kriss channels his experiences as an elite sportsman into his inspirational speaking engagements, sharing his expertise on goal setting, overcoming hurdles, the importance of teamwork and managing change proactively.
Following a decorated career in the British Army, the Royal Corps of Signals and the Army Physical Training Corps that culminated in Kriss being ranked as a Warrant Officer Class 2, Kriss began his international athletics career in 1983 as a 400m specialist, before transitioning into the 400m hurdles. Kriss proved to be an extremely talented athlete, with a rich collection of medals to his name, including a Silver and two Bronze Olympic medals, a Silver World Championship medal, a Bronze World Championship medal and a Gold Commonwealth Games medal - in addition to his World Champion and three-times European Champion status. Kriss is also renowned for having broken the British 400m hurdles record on two occasions, all impressive achievements in the field of athletics that saw him rewarded with the appointment of MBE for Services to Athletics in 1992.
Following his retirement from competitive Athletics, Kriss embarked on a career as a television broadcaster. Renowned for presenting "The Big Breakfast" on Channel 4, Kriss has also forged status as a household name as a result of being the Co-Presenter of the BBC's "Record Breakers". Aside from those programmes, Kriss has also been a staple presenter of various children's television programmes, a regular contributor to the Sky News Paper Review Programme and offered his expertise to a variety of radio broadcasts. Aside from his commitments to broadcasting, Kriss is also renowned as the Founder and Chairperson of The Akabusi Charitable Trust and the CEO of The Akabusi Company.
Today, Kriss' infamous and infectious personality sees him highly sought after to deliver a variety of keynote and motivational speeches for top corporate clients, including previous clients such as AutoTrader, Innocent Drinks, Cadbury and Scania. Translating his experience as a professional sportsman into business contexts, Kriss is renowned for communicating high-energy and inspirational messages that align with business goals. With keynote speeches that encompass humour, passion and authenticity, Kriss is also highly sought after as an after dinner speaker to share tales from his inspirational sporting past. Whether he is booked for a workshop or as an executive coach, Kriss is guaranteed to deliver thought-provoking speeches that ignite passion and inspire people to set visions, take ownership of goals, overcome adversity and achieve outstanding results - qualities that make Champions Speakers proud to be an official speaker agent of Kriss Akabusi. When looking for a truly motivational speaker, don't hesitate to hire Kriss Akabusi today!
In July 2020, our Director (virtually) sat down with Kriss and discussed all things the Olympics, athletics and motivation. Take a look at the full exclusive interview with Kriss Akabusi today.
Social Media
Books
Success Comes in Cans: Learning Lessons for Life
Reviews
Kriss Akabusi received a 5 star rating across 10 events in 2023
Agent Recommendation
"Kriss Akabusi excels as a motivational speaker, blending sporting glory with a vibrant TV presence. His infectious enthusiasm and relatable approach keep audiences engaged and inspired, making every event memorable and impactful"
How to hire Kriss Akabusi
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Kriss Akabusi for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
Kriss Akabusi's official speaking topics are listed below:
- Understand the Importance of Teamwork & How to Achieve It
- Be Flexible & Manage Change Proactively
- Use Creativity & Innovation to Achieve Outstanding Results
- Identify & Overcome Hurdles
- Take Ownership of & Commit to Goals
- Focus on Goal-Setting for Teams & Individuals
- Set a Vision
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events
Feedback from In-Person Events:
"Kriss recently attended a leadership offsite after previously attending our Sales and Service Conference (6 weeks prior to the offsite) where he was very engaging and inspirational to over 300 attendees. With this in mind, we engaged him to work with our emerging leadership team of 30 people. Once again he was exceptionally impressive, engaging a room of 30 people for over 5 hours (and ran over by 2 hours!) – with his stories, practical advice and highly energetic approach. Huge thanks for taking this event to another level and helping our leadership team on the next step of the journey." - Sharon, UK Sales Director, AutoTrader
"Fantastic session with Kriss - very engaging and high energy. Kriss took the time beforehand to really understand our company and our values and so his messages on the day were very aligned. The delegates loved the surprise and many commented on the value Kriss added to the overall conference." - Zoe, Learning & Development Specialiser, KFC
"We invited Kriss to present at our annual Global Conference and we couldn’t have asked for anything better. He was funny, engaging, entertaining, inspirational and hugely relevant. The hairs on the back of our hands standing on end with his electricity! Kriss’s tone and content were absolutely perfect and he tailored his act beautifully to fit with our key conference theme and messages. People will be talking about Kriss Akabusi at our conference for years to come! Thanks for helping us deliver the best Speedo Conference ever. Boom! Boom! Boom!" - Finlay, Business Development Manager, Speedo
"We have contracted Kriss to be our ambassador for an exciting new vitamin range that we launched recently and to utilise Kriss’s motivational talent at various company functions. We were given the heads up about Kriss and what an asset he could be for our company and to say that turned out to be a gross understatement wouldn’t be far wrong. We have dealt with people in the public eye before with mixed results but dealing with Kriss has been an absolute breath of fresh air. Kriss has automatically brought credibility to a new brand in a very competitive market and the launch sales have been way above our expectations. We are extremely grateful to have an association with the Akabusi company and we look forward to working with Kriss and his team for many years to come." - Mike, Marketing Manager, Rowlands Pharmacy
"Kriss went down a storm, was very personable and down-to-earth whilst funny and inspiring in equal measures. It was really fantastic to watch him in action and made the day extra special. In my direct dealings, I found him so personable and a pleasure to deal with. I will have no hesitation recommending him to colleagues and peers." - Airbus
“Please pass on our thanks again to Kriss; a pleasure and delight to meet, and work with them and a real treat to see him in action. He went down a storm with our delegates and people are still talking about his session today and we’ve received emails from our customers saying how much they enjoyed his closing session. On a personal note, meeting a childhood hero and reminiscing about his stories during his GB Athletics days brought back very fond memories for me too. All in all a very successful event for us, thank you!” - Kronos Systems Limited
"He was great. He was lovely to work with - and the client is absolutely delighted with the video we've made from what we shot with him. Pass on our thanks again to Kriss. He made our job very easy!" - Indigo Blue Media
“Kriss was absolutely fantastic! He was incredibly engaging and enthusiastic and brought so much energy into the room. He was an absolute pleasure to deal with and very professional from start to finish, wanting to find out as much about the company as possible in order to tailor his talk to the industry and make sure it resonated with the audience. I would definitely recommend him to others – he helped make our event such a success, thank you Champions and thank you Kriss!” - Efficio Ltd
"Kriss was a great success – we had great feedback from his session. It was great that he stayed around with us and people had a chance to speak to most on a one-to-one basis." - Sherwin Williams
"Please pass on our thanks to Kriss – he has been OUTSTANDING. Everyone was absolutely mesmerized by his talk, his charm and humour and walked away inspired and full of motivation – exactly what we wanted. We loved working with him!" - Beiersdorf
Feedback from Virtual Events:
"Well where do I start, Kriss was absolutely fantastic at the conference! I have had nothing but excellent feedback about his session, I think we planned it well by having him end the day as he left everyone on a total high and ready for what's to come this year. Everything he touched on was also so well connected back to our HR audience and I know everyone found his session extremely captivating and motivating. The only downside was that I wish we were all in the same room as I can only imagine the atmosphere in that room during his talk, it would of been amazing." - DC Thomson
- 2024 - Keynote Speaker at the Institute of Financial Operations & Leadership Accounts Payable & P2P Leadership Conference, London
- 2017 - Commentator on ITV's "Bigheads"
- 1992 - Broke the British 400m hurdles record
- 1992 - Recipient of an Honorary Degree from the University of Southampton
- 1991 - Appointed MBE for Services to Athletics
- 1990 - Broke the British 400m hurdles record
- 1990 - Warrant Officer Class 2 of the British Army
- 1981 - Member of the Army Physical Training Corps
- 1975 - Member of the British Army as part of the Royal Corps of Signals
- Founder & Chairperson of The Akabusi Charitable Trust
- Former Presenter of Channel 4's "The Big Breakfast"
- Former Co-Presenter of the BBC's "Record Breakers"
- 1 x Silver Olympic Medallist
- 2 x Bronze Olympic Medallist
- 1 x World Champion
- 1 x Silver World Championship Medallist
- 1 x Bronze World Championship Medallist
- 3 x European Champion
- 1 x Gold Commonwealth Games Medallist
