Hanging With Olympic Champion Kirani James, Ms Mikko Has Arrived

20/5/2013

With current World Champion and Olympic Champion (400m), Kirani James.

“You are so laid-back, down-to-earth and level-headed,” I commented to Olympic 400 metres champion Kirani James. From where we were seated, there was an impressive view of Shanghai’s athletic stadium. A number of world class athletes were in town for the annual Diamond League competition. The one day track and field event had ended a couple of hours ago and now a small number of us had gathered at the top floor bar of the Regal Shanghai East Asia Hotel (yes, a rather long name) for an evening hosted by the Grenadian Embassy in China.

And of course, being Grenada’s first ever medal-winning Olympian at last year’s London 2012 Olympics Kirani James was guest of honour. It was a small invite-only cocktail reception with Charge D’Affaires Mr. Richard Nixon from the Grenadian Embassy overseeing proceedings.

A number of Caribbean students from various Shanghai university campuses were also present, many of whom we already knew from previous social events. That added to the friendly atmosphere where Kirani sat with our group and happily engaged in our lively conversations.

That impressed me. I have come across other well-known ‘celebrities’ in my previous working life and more often than not, a diva-ish mentality along with touch of snobbery tended to linger around these so-called personalities. Not with Kirani. If anything, he was somewhat timid at first but with Lezil sat right next to him they spent practically the whole evening chatting about his first impressions of Shanghai, his sporting career and life back home on his Caribbean island of Grenada.

Grenadians in Shanghai with their national sporting hero! (top row from far right) Kirani James and Mr. Richard Nixon from the Grenadian Embassy.

Part of James' team: Renaldo Nehemiah (far left) and Harvey Glance (third from the left).

Even his management/coaching team were also a reflection of his no-nonsense attitude. Americans Renaldo Nehemiah (manager) and Harvey Glance (coach) come from a glorious sporting background and now they form the core team which has contributed to the rise and success of Kirani’s career to date. Renaldo himself became the first man to run the 110m hurdles in under 13 seconds and pretty much dominated the sport during the late 1970s. Harvey’s discipline was the 100m – at one time equalling the world record (1976) and taking home the gold medal in the 4x100m relay at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

Upon hearing Lezil’s distinct South African accent, coach Harvey soon broached the subject of recently disgraced paralympian Oscar Pistorius (aka the blade runner). Harvey told us how Kirani and Oscar had trained a few times together and not forgetting the media attention-grabbing shot from the 2012 Olympics when both athletes swapped their name bibs after Kirani bagged the gold in the 400m final. Harvey said that to this day he still can’t believe that Oscar had got caught up in that alleged murder mess. According to Harvey, he was one of the nicest guys on the circuit, always upbeat and smiling. I guess we have a few months still to wait before the whole case (and the media circus that goes along with it) comes to life again.

Kirani and troubled South African athlete Oscar Pistorius swapping name bibs at last year's 2012 London Olympics.

Caribbean ladies enjoying the evening reception hosted by the Grenadian Embassy.

Having sampled some Grenadian rum, downed a few glasses of Chilean red wine and swayed to the reggae and soca music playing over the bar’s speaker system we bid our farewells to Mr. Nixon thanking him for organising a fun evening. (Also, thanking our lovely friend Nicoleen for the hook up!) Riding the elevator down to the hotel lobby from the top 12th floor, Renaldo and Harvey were also turning in for the night. I noticed Harvey’s huge signet ring which he said he got to commemorate the 2008 Beijing Olympics of which he was Team USA’s assistant coach for. In a few hours’ time they both had return flights back to the States. It was a real delight to have met them all. And yes, Kirani James won the 400m that day with a time of 44.02 seconds. USA’s LaShawn Merrit came second (44.60) and the Dominican Republic’s Luguelín Santos in third (45.11).

That was Saturday night. Sunday and it was time to welcome another newcomer to Shanghai. Her name – Ms Mikko. As part of Studio Ebony’s month of workshops and specialist consultation sessions, the Shanghai-based Afro hair salon had invited over renowned American cosmetologist and hair professional Ms Mikko who hails from Dudleys – a leading brand in hair care and products in the US. As big as her reputation is, her personality was even bigger.

Barely walking through the salon’s front doors and within seconds Ms Mikko was cracking all manner of jokes about her Chinese experience thus far. Living in China over an extended period of time, you almost forget the obvious differences to living in the West and it’s not until a fresh outsider steps in, do you realise that actually you have unintentionally become just that little bit more Chinese in your ways.

Ms Mikko in action at Shanghai's Studio Ebony.

Ms Mikko getting ready to loosen out the curls.

It was late afternoon and Ms Mikko was on her last client of the day. She was busying herself on a hair-curling job. Sitting under her magical hands was German/Tunisian Sarah. She mentioned that she had been to other very expensive high-profile salons in Shanghai over the year and half she has lived here and none were able to produce the results she was looking for. “They just don’t get my hair,” she said. It was her first time visiting Studio Ebony and she excitedly glanced at the huge wall mirror while Ms Mikko was unfastening her curling tongs and expertly loosening each curl. The result was instantaneous. The curls were defined with plenty of volume and bounce.

“This is what I have always imagined,” tailed off Sarah holding a small mirror with one hand and using the other to gently scrunch the loose curls. Ms Mikko couldn’t have been prouder. There went another extremely happy customer out the door.

Apart from dealing with clients at Studio Ebony, Ms Mikko will be holding a series of workshops to cover a number of topics from examining the hair effects of hard water damage (a big problem in Shanghai) to healthy hair maintenance and understanding hair growth and curls which is all slated for the beginning of June.

Back home she owns two salons, is a beauty industry educator, comes with over 23 years of first-hand experience and holds a number of recognised qualifications in different fields. It’s safe to say that Studio Ebony have pulled out the big guns. As for her impromptu stand-up comedy rants, well that something that just can’t be taught.

Keeping us entertained all afternoon was Ms Mikko!

Think of Eddie Murphy’s classic ‘Raw’ with a more modern twist and the same ‘colourful’ language fueling her hilarious commentaries, that’s Ms Mikko right there. She even dubbed Lezil as a cute mini version of ‘Kim Kardashian’ with a hot booty to match. I gave Ms Mikko a high-five to that!