"If I were young now, I would love to go back to running."
Rose Amankwaah was once dubbed 'the fastest woman in Africa', and has been reflecting on her days representing Ghana on the track after almost 50 years of public service.
The 72-year-old is the longest-serving nurse at London's Central Middlesex Hospital, but will retire from her role as a theatre matron at the end of the month.
She has received recognition for her service, yet was breaking records before her nursing career began in 1975.
"I was the second-fastest woman in Africa. I took silver in the 100m at the All Africa Games in Nigeria [in 1973]," Amankwaah told BBC Sport Africa.
"I also won gold in Mexico at the Afro-Latin American Games that year and a Commonwealth Games bronze [relay] medal in New Zealand in 1974. "And that will be there forever. Google, wherever you go, my name will be there.
"Being an athlete was wonderful. I really did enjoy it. I still watch athletics; the Diamond League, the World Championships, the Olympics. I even record it so I can watch it after work." Rose Asiedua, as she was known before her marriage in 1979, was born in Kumasi, Ghana, and was the youngest of nine children.
While her parents worked in their shops in the city's market, as a youngster she found she had a talent for athletics, rising up through the school ranks - first in long jump and high jump, and then in the sprints.
Following inter-schools competitions, her talent was noticed by Ghana Athletics. "We had a coach called Mr Lawson and he told me I was wasting my time on long jump and high jump and that he wanted to train me in the sprints," she recalled.
"I then went on to represent the Ashanti region and I came first. That's how it all began."
After travelling the world representing Ghana on the global athletics stage, Amankwaah followed one of her brothers to England in 1974 and was inspired to get into nursing by a neighbour.
But her love of athletics remained, and as she embarked on her studies she began to mix with some of the world's biggest sprinting names.
"When I came to London, I used to train at what is now called the Linford Christie Stadium," she said.
"It used to be the Thames Valley Stadium, and I used to train a little bit with Linford Christie."
Such was Amankwaah's passion for running that her tutors and employers at the National Health Service (NHS) would rota her sympathetically, so that she could continue her training.
She had set her heart on competing at the 1976 Olympics in Canada, but that dream was crushed for reasons beyond her control.
"I had permission from the nursing school to represent Ghana in the 1976 Games in Montreal but then African nations boycotted it," she explained.
"I was so disappointed. I'd done my training in the evenings while working in the daytime. And then suddenly we couldn't go.”
