Rio champ ready to do the business

At the same time sprinter Liam Malone was preparing for the 2016 games in Rio – where he went on to win two gold medals and a silver – he was also taking five papers a semester to get through his Bachelor’s in Marketing and International Business at Victoria University in Wellington.

Malone, who graduated yesterday, said it had been a long three years to get to where he was,

Studying was a hard task alongside training, and it took a lot of planning and scheduling to keep on top of things, he said.

‘‘A lot of the time I was playing catch up and behind, and that was difficult, I just tried to stay consistent. My course coordinators and tutors were very understanding – giving me flexibility in deadlines and offering support.’’

Malone had not considered delaying his studies to focus on running.

‘‘Life’s short. I watched my mum die when I was 18, it was a good reminder you want to do as many things as possible.’’

The runner had been selected to give the graduate address at yesterday’s ceremony, which he said was an honour.

‘‘When I was 18, I ... couldn’t get a job in New Zealand. I ended up on the benefit for a small time. I went to Perth where I had a terrible job and I felt very, very useless at that point in my life,’’ he said.

‘‘Coming to Victoria, a university that prides itself on global thinking, is a huge honour.’’

The 23-year-old had a goal beyond university: to be faster than sprinter Usain Bolt, making him the fastest person on the planet.

Once that goal is achieved he would like to work for someone who is ‘‘really smart’’ and is ‘‘working at a really hard problem’’.

‘‘Even if I don’t have an important role, it would be fun to be part in something new.’’

Malone, who has a passion for technology, said the value of his life had been determined by his own hi-tech prosthetics. As society relied on technology, it was important to build new things, he said.