Only one Senegalese won a medal in the history of the Olympics - Amadou Dia Ba, runner-up in the men's 400m hurdles at Seoul 1988. Some 32 years later, his time still remains in the top 10 fastest for the event. This is his story.

"In 1984, I was already an Olympics finalist - I came in fifth.

I was a rookie and I made some mistakes that I could have avoided.

So with my coach, we set to work to grab the medal.

In 1984, I had missed out. So before the 1988 Olympics, my mind was set - the time, we aim for a medal.

At every Olympics, in every event, you always have a top five or top 10 who are realistically targeting a medal. In 1988, I was among them.

During the four years between the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, I faced the same runners in each event: Ed Moses, Andre Phillips and the Germans, Harald Schmid and Edgar Itt.

So we all knew each other.

The day before the final, I was drawn in Lane 5. I said to my coach that with that lane I would grab a medal.

We decided that I would be cautious during my race.

Everyone has his own strategy. This race is so technical that you can't just "give it a try." It's hit or miss.

I wanted to use my usual strategy with 13 steps between hurdles until the eighth hurdle, but my coach decided to switch after the sixth hurdle and to finish with 14 steps.

This way, I would be faster. It was strategic.

But it cost me speed to begin with. I was third before the last hurdle, but I knew I could finish faster because this is my strength.

Moses and Phillips knew that if we were together until the last hurdle, it could go badly for them. That's why they usually tried to be ahead before.

This time, Edwin Moses finished way behind. I was behind Phillips in second, but he wasn't far ahead of me.

He won by only 0.04 of a second.

Being a medallist I was happy. Phillips, the best man in our race, won.

Two or three races after the Olympics, I beat him bad though!

It had been his day but it was also mine in a way.

If you achieve an Olympic podium, you earn the right to celebrate whether you are first, second or third.

The medal was like the pinnacle. It was what we all aimed for going to the Olympics.

After the race, my thoughts were going toward my performance, my country, my family.

We were like a golden generation.

At the time we raced, Moses was the best in the world, but you also had Phillips, Schmid, me, and Kevin Young - who went on to set the world record at the 1992 Olympics, a record that still stands.

But after that race I had an Achilles injury and I could not get back to 100%.

I never managed to train again at full capacity. This is why I stopped right after the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona."