Clarance “Nicky” Saunders is still surprised when he is stopped in the street and congratulated in shops.

Since returning to Bermuda this year and subsequently taking up his new post as the secretary-general of the Bermuda Olympic Association, the former high jumper has found himself renewing acquaintance with people he thought had long forgotten him.

Saunders, who won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in New Zealand in 1990, spent two decades in London after his athletics career ended, working in insurance and raising his family, but now he has settled back in Bermuda and into a role in which the workload has already surprised him.

“I’m appreciating it now,” Saunders said of life back on the island. “I’ve been here really for about nine months, but I was coming and going for about a year and a half.

“It takes a lot of getting used to, downsizing into a small place. I thought I was used to it because I grew up here, but coming back you just have to get on with it and fit right back in, but sometimes it’s a little difficult.

“Everyone welcomes me home, but I think it’s more me than anyone else. I’ve still got that little voice saying, ‘OK, I’ve got to find my way’ and remember the normal Bermudian customs that sometimes out there you don’t have to use as often. The pace of life, the rhythm of life, is a bit different. There’s less pressure to rush around.”

The decision to come home was not tied to a job with the opportunity at the BOA only coming about after the retirement of Branwen Smith-King in August.

“I knew I didn’t want to coach and the reason is because I knew I had to work,” he said.

“I didn’t make a lot of money as an athlete, so I couldn’t retire and I like to work anyway. When I first came home I was doing painting and construction, but I always knew I wanted to get back into sports because I love all sports.

“I didn’t imagine holding this position but when it came up I put in an application and here I am. Now I am thinking what have I got myself into?

“As an athlete or even a coach, you don’t see what’s going on behind the scenes. All you know is you’re training, you’re in shape and you’re qualified for major games but being on this side of things is very interesting.

“I’ve only been in the job a couple of weeks and I can already see how much work it’s going to be, but the athletes depend on that work and they can’t get to competitions without it.”

Saunders has already held a number of meetings with treasurer Julia Hawley, president Peter Dunne and new colleagues in the office, so he is feeling the weight of responsibility.

“I’m not afraid of work and I actually relish it, so I’m enjoying the challenge,” Saunders said.

“I’m also not afraid of pressure as I’ve competed in front of millions of people. Everybody says I’m the best person for the job and I know I can handle it, but it’s just the mere fact that everybody thinks it’s going to be a breeze.

“Well, I know it’s not. I’m going to rely on everybody to help me out. If I don’t know, I’m not going to pretend that I do. I’m going to say ‘listen, I don’t know what you’re talking about, let’s sit down and go through it so I can best help’. The role here is not one for my ego, it is to help the athletes.”

An important part of Saunders’s brief is to help with funding for Bermuda’s elite athletes and he is promising to preserve what works, widen the support available and hold those who receive it to account. It is a far cry from the days when he was competing for Bermuda on the international stage.

“In the interview they asked me what I would do, and my response was I can’t come here with some big plan to change everything, because I don’t know the business,” he said.

“What I can do is stick to the guidelines, be proactive, get the funding in and get the funding out, but also ask for the reporting. All of the funding started only when I stopped competing and I never benefited from any of it.

“I’m a stickler for accountability so I think if you’re getting this funding, you really need to show what it is you’re doing. You also need to perform because a lot of the money is the people’s money.

“This is Bermuda’s money and I’m not talking about IOC [International Olympic Committee] money but the money coming from the government. It’s island-wide support for you. You’re not going to win every time and you’re not going to be at your best every time, but let’s make sure your performances are such that the island feels proud and knows that they didn’t waste their money or their time.”

Saunders has trained and competed around the world but is convinced that you can still become a world-class athlete based in Bermuda.

“You can do it here,” he said. “We’ve always thought that everything was better outside of Bermuda because we’re so small that we didn’t have the knowledge, but we have it and we have the facilities.

“What we lack is the competition. Training is a generic thing. It’s nothing so special that you can’t do it anywhere unless you need specialist equipment.

“When you go out into the greater world, you’re one of thousands trying to compete and unless you’re exceptional, nobody’s going to pick you up. That same kid comes home or trains at home and he becomes the No 1 person here. Now it’s up to his coaches and even the administration to help that person mature.

“If you’re the best in Bermuda, no one’s really going to beat you and that is a good thing because it gives you a positive feeling as long as you’re not complacent when you go and face the others.

“I was one of the best athletes around, but so were they. I was competing against the best in their neighbourhoods, countries and states, wherever, they were the best, and their states are bigger than Bermuda.

“So I learnt from them and they would learn from me. We were a family, we didn’t push our chests out and we just got down to brass tacks.”

The high jump scene in Bermuda holds a personal interest with Saunders’s cousin, Sakari Famous, recently setting a Bermuda record with a clearance of 1.89 metres. He is one of her keenest followers and was proud to see Famous win a bronze medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games recently.

“I’m one of her fans and I love to see her do well,” Saunders said.

“Part of me is tempted to try to help, but she has a coach and I respect their relationship. They have a system and its working now.

“If she’s jumped 1.89 as a result of that training, then it’s working but it will be difficult for her until she gets up to around 1.95 or two metres. That last little bit is the hardest but she’s a good age. I’ve known people who were average and then all of a sudden something turned. As athletes, you’ve got to be prepared for struggle.”

Saunders is a humble man and rarely looks back on his glory days as one of the world’s best track and field athletes.

“I appreciate that I did it and I love the fact that I did it but I don’t give it any more than that,” he said.

“I didn’t do it for Bermuda, I didn’t do it for family or friends, I did it for me and I never thought I was more than someone else because I jumped over a stick. If we break it down, that’s all I did, jump over a stick. Even to this day, when I walk in a room and people stand and clap, I’m embarrassed.

“To young athletes all I would say is keep yourself humble. If you want to scream at the top of your lungs that you’re going to be the best in the world, do that, but if you don’t back it up, you’re going to make yourself look like a fool. Keep your head down and just keep working.”