CHAMPION athletes Kriss Akabusi and Roger Black have urged business people to win by "dreaming big."

The Olympians topped the bill at the annual countywide Christmas Event run by Business Link Kent. Under the title Being the Best You Can Be, the inspirational gold and silver medallists spoke of the need to set goals and go for them.

Kriss, who came to England from Nigeria when he was a young boy, delighted a record business turnout for the event with his energetic presentation and characteristic laugh. He urged Kent and Medway business people to imagine what it would be like to hear the roar from an Olympic-sized crowd when the prize was won.

He urged people to be as passionate about business as an Olympic final. "You can do great things, there's only one you, you only come this way but once," he said. "Do it right and dream big."

Roger spoke of the "synergy" achieved when he met Akabusi. "If I hadn't met Kriss, I wouldn't have achieved half the things I did throughout my career," he said.

He advised the business community to "have a burning desire to reach their full potential, with a high need for achievement and a low fear of failure."

"If you stand behind that line focusing on your perfect race and you have trained hard and experienced synergy along the way, the chances are you are going to deliver."

The event, hosted at the Ramada Hotel, Hollingbourne, by Meridian television presenter Geoff Clark, raised more than £3,000 for Demelza House children's hospice.