Inspirational Olympic moments

[Koenig]

I know we have an Olympics thread, but I felt this could use it's own thread rather than get drowned out in the other one.

After watching the new Nike Courage commercial and getting pumped up, I thought how some of the best moments in the Olympics did not involve medals or records at all, but rather the best of the human spirit.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ae3tFI8wXE[/YOUTUBE]

So here's a few examples to make you feel good about humanity:

John Stephen Akhwari (b. 1938 in Mbulu, Tanganyika) was an Olympic athlete at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He represented Tanzania in the marathon.

During the race he fell, badly cutting his knee and dislocating the joint. Rather than quitting, he continued running. He finished last among the 74 competitors. When asked why he continued running, he said simply, "My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me to finish." Akhwari competed for ten years after the 1968 Olympics. He finished fifth in the marathon at the 1970 Commonwealth Games.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a6DX_m87y0[/YOUTUBE]

At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Derek Redmond of Great Britain pulled out of the opening round of the 400 metres 90 seconds before his heat was due to begin due to a hamstring problem. Prior to the 1992 Olympics, he had undergone eight operations due to injuries. However he seemed to be in good form heading into the Olympics in Barcelona. He posted the fastest time of the first round, and went on to win his quarter-final. In the semi-final, Redmond started well, but in the back straight about 250 metres from the finish, his hamstring snapped. He hobbled to a halt, and then fell to the ground in pain. Stretcher bearers made their way over to him, but Redmond decided he wanted to finish the race. He began to hobble along the track, with pain etched upon his face. He was soon joined on the track by his father, Jim Redmond, who barged past security and on to the track to get to his son. Jim and Derek completed the lap of the track together, with Derek leaning on his father's shoulder for support. As they crossed the finish line, the 65,000 crowd rose to give Derek a standing ovation. However as his father had helped him finish, Derek was officially disqualified and Olympic records state that he "Did Not Finish" the race. But in the public's perception, he had finished and done so heroically.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zi0_LjHHN4[/YOUTUBE]

Eric Moussambani (born May 31, 1978) is a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea.

Eric Moussambani, nicknamed "Eric The Eel" by the media after the name first appeared in an article by Craig Lord in The Times newspaper in London, won brief international fame at the 2000 Summer Olympics when he swam his heat of the 100m freestyle in 1:52.72 and won, because the two other competitors Karim Bare and Farkhod Oripov were disqualified for taking a false start. His time was more than twice that of his faster competitors, and outside even the 200m world record. However he had set a new personal best and national record.

Moussambani gained entry to the Olympics without meeting the minimum qualification requirements via a wildcard draw designed to encourage developing countries without expensive training facilities to participate. While Pieter van den Hoogenband set a world record of 47.84 seconds to win the gold medal, Moussambani splashed his way to the finish to the cheers of the crowd in slightly more than twice that time. "The last 15 meters were very difficult," Moussambani said.

Before coming to the Olympics, Moussambani had never seen a 50 m (160 ft) long Olympic-size swimming pool. He took up swimming only 8 months before the Olympics and had practiced in a 20 m (66 ft) pool at a hotel in Malabo.

His performance generated spectator and media interest in the only other Equatorial Guinean swimmer at the Sydney Olympics, Paula Barila Bolopa, who competed in the women's 50 metres freestyle event. Barila struggled to finish the race with a time of 01:03.97, setting a record for the slowest time in Olympic history for that event, and in turn achieved minor celebrity status.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zjCc_VyxM4[/YOUTUBE]

Lawrence Lemieux (born November 12, 1955 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian sailor, who competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in the Finn class.

On September 24, 1988, the sailing competition was underway at Pusan, 450 kilometers from South Korea's capital of Seoul, the main Olympic site. The conditions for sailing had unexpectedly become dangerous. Acceptable winds of fifteen knots had escalated at times to 35 knots. The waters were playing havoc with boats and crews. In the 470 class, two sailors on the Singapore team, Joseph Chan and Shaw Her Siew, were thrown into the water, suffering injuries and unable to right their boat. The situation was a dangerous one.

Sailing alone near the half point in his race on the nearby Finn class race course, Lemieux was then in second place in this, the fifth of a seven race event, and was given a good chance to win one of the medals. But still, Lemieux immediately took action, forgetting his own race and sailing toward Joseph Chan in the 470 class. As the Canadian was dragging Chan aboard, his own boat began filling with water. Successfully rescuing Chan, Lemieux immediately headed toward Shaw Her Siew, who was clinging tenaciously to his overturned boat. Lemieux performed the same rescue operation and now both Singaporean sailors were in his boat. But for Lemieux victory was impossible. He waited for an official patrol boat to reach him, then transferred the two men. Lemieux then continued in his race, but the loss of time during the rescue operation put him out of contention. He finished 22nd in a race that started with 32 boats.

Soon after the race, the story of the rescue reached the jury of the International Yacht Racing Union. They unanimously decided that Lemieux should be awarded second place for this, the position he was in when he went to the aid of the Singapore crew. None of the other contestants questioned the decision.

Though Lemieux did not win a medal in the overall seven race competition, at the medal awards ceremony Juan Antonio Samaranch, President of the International Olympic Committee, awarded Lemieux the Pierre de Coubertin Medal for Sportsmanship, and paid honour to Lemieux for his act.

"By your sportsmanship, self-sacrifice and courage," said Samaranch, "you embody all that is right with the Olympic ideal."

Lemieux has since retired from sailing and is now a coach.

 

[wooflepoof]

possible preemptive Olympic moment:

When China didn't fake or cheat at something.

 

[Jacobfox]

Well except for packing their women's gymnastics squad with massively underaged athletes.

 

[Werner]

That swimmer from guinea :lol:

he nearly drowned halfway down the pool

 

[KaJuN]

The first inspirational Olympic moment that comes to my mind is the 1980 winter games hockey matchup between USA and the USSR.

 

[Viper007Bond]

After watching the new Nike Courage commercial and getting pumped up

I literally get goosebumps every time that's on TV between the music and all the great clips.

 

[PaperBiro]

John Stephen Akhwari (b. 1938 in Mbulu, Tanganyika) was an Olympic athlete at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He represented Tanzania in the marathon.

During the race he fell, badly cutting his knee and dislocating the joint. Rather than quitting, he continued running. He finished last among the 74 competitors. When asked why he continued running, he said simply, "My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me to finish." Akhwari competed for ten years after the 1968 Olympics. He finished fifth in the marathon at the 1970 Commonwealth Games.

Something similar happened just yesterday, except with Woman's Weightlifting. I was there to watch it live on TV.

http://www.boston.com/sports/articles/2008/08/13/these_stories_quite_uplifting/?page=1

 

[LP]

The American swim team.


Fucking kick ass.

 

[h-p]

Does anyone else recall event that some athlete from some Pacific island was late from his actual sport event? I think it was shot put. He then attented javelin throw, maybe, and threw something like 40 meters. But still everybody cheered at him.

Probably not in olympics, though.

Or am I dreaming?

edit: And of course speaking of great moments, Lasse Vir?n, Munich 1972. At 10 000 metres he falls down, gets up and runs new world record. Link.