Champion! Champion! Champion!
The words rang out loud here in Paris on Tuesday night. The New Zealand women’s rugby team had just won the gold medal in the rugby sevens grand final defeating Canada 19-12 and with their medals in their hands or around their necks, they were blasting T&T’s Dwayne Bravo's already world-famous song - Champion - which was released during the West Indies men’s and women’s successful run to win their respective T20 Cricket World Cup in 2016.
"It came as a surprise to me in terms of obviously, New Zealand women’s rugby team, it is not like it is a men’s team or something like that but a lot of people started sharing it. I woke up in the morning and like what it is this …so much messages on my phone," Bravo told Guardian Media Sports.
"I just reflected on the impact this song has worldwide and what it has done over the years. I released that song in 2016 and it still sounds like fairly new. It still has that joyful feeling that champion feeling in people and that is what this song was written about,” added Bravo.
Asked if he knew someone from the women’s rugby team, a smiling Bravo said, "I don’t even know one person. I like how they were very creative and they were calling even their own players names whether it is Mollie is a champion; Sophie is a champion, so it was like really, really creative, really nice. They posted it up, I shared it on my social media page and I congratulated them as well. It is a song that will live on forever.
"So many people send me videos all over whether it is in Jamaica, St Lucia, from schools in the UK and now this is the Olympics, you can’t get bigger than this, apart from a football World Cup, I am just happy that this song lives on and continues to bring joy to people across the world, " said Bravo.
On the success of this song which has over 20 million views on YouTube: "Well I never imagined this to be honest. I actually wrote this song in 2015 and released it in 2016 so how I do music is for my personal joy, for fun and to try to get people to be their own champions and inspire people, I never expected it to reach where it has reached now."
Bravo has been a successful member of the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League and their head coach is former New Zealand captain Stephen Flemming.
Bravo told Guardian Media, "I actually send it to Stephen Flemming when I saw it, he is from New Zealand and he always gives me a hard time (laughing ) so when I sent it to him, he went - Damn mate you've gone global.
"We all have our own inner champions. Just two days ago, I had some youths in my production studio here in Trinidad, they are all under the age of 18. They are all on the creative side of things from dancers to beating pan and my message to them, 'I’d be your own self', be honest with yourself and fulfil your dreams and don’t let anyone tell you cannot achieve it.
Bravo added he told the youngsters, "This building you are sitting in now this come from music and a lot of people doubted me, where music is concerned, it is not about what someone thinks about you but more what you think about yourself, how you view yourself and each person has that given talent and that hidden champion within them.
" So you just have to go out there whether you are an athlete or a businessman or musician just go out there and give your 100 per cent and again this song champion will live on forever, 15 years down the road, 20 years down the road, it will may probably play at every sporting event, every championship moments so I am just happy, I created a song that will be a legendary song for people in the making,” said Bravo.
