Most athletes who make it to the Olympics have dreamed of winning a gold medal for years. After years of hard training and many sacrifices they finally qualify for the Games, only to suffer an injury. An injury so serious that their Olympic dream is threatened. Others suffer an injury during their event.
Yet inside them is a spirit and fight that burns so bright, they are able to overcome the setback and compete. Here are four athletes who have done just that. They exemplify the real meaning behind the Games.
Silken Laumann – Single Sculls Rowing
Ten weeks prior to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics she was hit by another scull during training. Enduring five operations to repair her broken leg and severed muscles, she continued to train for the games. Even though she had not healed completely, Silken raced to a bronze medal.
Kyle Shewfelt – Gymanastics
During a practice session prior to the 2007 world championships in Germany, Kyle broke both his legs during a tumbling routine. Eleven months later Kyle set out to defend his Olympic title in the floor exercise at the Beijing Olympics, his first international event since the injury occurred. Kyle was solid placing 9th in the vault and 11th in the floor. He demonstrated the true spirit behind the Olympics – sometimes the triumphs are not in winning but in doing your absolute best.
Derek Redmond, 400 m.
Derek pulled his hamstring about halfway through the 400m in the 1992 Barcelona Games. instead of walking off the track, he got up and started to hop-jog towards the finish line with the crowd cheering him on. With about 100m to go his Dad, shaking off track security, ran onto the track and helped his son walk across the line.
Kerry Strug, Gymnastics
Kerry needed to score a 9.493 on the vault in order for the USA to win the team gold in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. On her first vault she botched her landing and hurt her ankle. With a visible limp, she made her way to line up to perform her second vault. On her second vault she stuck the landing and in doing so, further injured her ankle and needed help leaving the landing area. Her score of 9.712 won the Americans the gold team medal.
I'm sure there are many more stories of courage and humanity at the Games. Feel free to share them with me!