Athletics

Army athlete hoping to channel spirit of Kris Akabusi at Commonwealth Games

22nd July 2026 at 8:42am

Lance Corporal Marvric Pamphile is set to appear at his second Commonwealth Games (Picture: Alligin Photography)

Lance Corporal Marvric Pamphile has a lot of history to pull from when it comes to British Army athletes at the Commonwealth Games.

One of the most famous is Kris Akabusi, who served with the Army from 1975 to 1990, and won medals at the Olympics, European Championships, British Championships, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.

LCpl Pamphile will represent St. Lucia at this year's event in his second appearance at the Commonwealth Games and in his the build-up, he's been reading about Akabusi's story.

"One of my coaches gave me a book on Chris and I think it's been a massive motivation," said the runner. "So much so I almost tried the 400m hurdles to be fair. Yeah, he's amazing. He still has loads of the Inter Services records and I'm not going to lie, I want them. I definitely want them.

"If he happens to see this, he's a great inspiration to many in the services. We still look up to what he's achieved and what he's done."

For LCpl Pamphile, it's been a long journey to the 2026 event. He competed in 2018, but failed to make it out of the heats. He aimed to return in 2022 after a short break from the sport, but that wasn't to be.

Now, in 2026, he returns to the big stage just months after an injury nearly ended the dream. He said: "Back in December, I pretty much felt something. I felt a little niggle in my psoas muscle, but it turned out to be something even greater.

"It was osteitis pubis. It's pretty much an exaggerated groin injury, which sometimes could take up to 10 months to pretty much rehab. The Army's been in my corner throughout all of it, my team as well.

"I've managed to come back within the next five months. So it's been tough, but I've learned things about myself mentally, physically, and I'm just pretty much preparing, sharpening up to be as competitive as I can be."

Find out more about LCpl Pamphile's aims for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in our featured video above. His competition begins with the 400m heats on July 28.