Bridgend Man Receives Replica of Lost Medal

A special report from Boxing and Motorcycling correspondent, Alun Tudor Jones

Tosser

Keith Kawasaki will hold on to this gold medal. The World of Motorcycling's Living Legend received a replica of the medal he won at the 1960 Isle of Man T.T. Championships -- but subsequently tossed away -- during a meeting with Muhammad Ali (a former boxer) at the prestigious Heronstone Hotel. It came as a complete surprise to Keith who believed that he had been invited to the Hotel to attend a tribute lunch for his close friend, Barry Sheen.

Sweet

Kawasaki is presented with a replica of his 1960 T.T. Gold Medal at the Heronstone Hotel, Bridgend.

"It was a very sweet gesture on their part," Kawasaki's wife, Gillian, said, holding the gold medal, which depicts a rampant three-legged man riding a Manx cat. "It was an emotional moment," she added. Keith, aged 60, a native of the Ogmore Valley, was 18 when he won the T.T. title in 1960 as the brash newcomer to the motorsport world.

The Greatest

In his autobiography, "The Greatest," Keith wrote that he tossed his gold medal into the River Ogmore after a fight with a black motorcycle gang, which started when he and a friend were refused service at an Indian Restaurant in Nolton Street, Bridgend.

Presenting the medal, Ali said, "It is a wonderful honour to give this token to a man who has so enriched the world of sport with an eminence that is unrivalled in the history of human endeavour". Kawasaki replied, "Ta."

STOP PRESS

News is breaking that Kawasaki has thrown his new medal into the River Garw after being refused service in a Chinese restaurant in Aberkenfig.