Comments on: 13 Medal-Worthy Olympic Stories

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:34:40 +0000

What about Joannie Rochette from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics? She’s practically Canada’s sweetheart. She was a fan favourite before she even performed her figure skating routine. She was expected to win and already had a huge following. Then, a day before her final performance, her mother (known to have perfect health) unexpectedly died in her sleep. They had been very close. Joannie had trained her whole life for the Olympics and although she was heartbroken, she chose to skate. Her beautiful number was all about extreme pain. At the end of the routine, she collapsed, sobbing on the ice. She won the bronze medal and was praised as an Olympic hero.

I’m young and haven’t seen many Olympics, but she’s definatley the Olympic hero of my generation.

By: demaris

demaris — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 05:58:08 +0000

In the 2006 winter games, Chinese pairs skating couple Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao attempted a throw quadruple Salchow. She fell and injured herself; most people thought they wouldn’t be able to finish. They were allowed two minutes to sort out the problem, then went back onto the ice, finished their routine, and won silver medals.

By: A. Marina Fournier

A. Marina Fournier — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 07:20:19 +0000

Elvis Stojko’s long program at the Nagano Olympics of 1998, where he continued to skate in spite of a pulled groin muscle. that was a result of not letting the previous injury there heal long enough. I remember him saying that he only had four more minutes to go, and he kept telling himself that until he finished his routine. THEN he collapsed.

There have been times when I’ve danced in pain, and told myself, only X more minutes. If Stojko could do it, I can try to follow his example.

By: A. Marina Fournier

A. Marina Fournier — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 07:09:15 +0000

At Pomona College in Claremont CA, I was fortunate enough to take a semester of fencing (foil only) with Dr. Francis Zold, who in 1948, was a captain of the Hungarian Fencing Team at the Olympic Games in London. He was a well-loved teacher at Pomona, and everywhere he taught. He made us all feel we could make our bodies do anything we set our minds to make happen.

His wife, Anna, worked in the binding department of the main library, and always produced beautifully bound items to sell at Yuletide boutiques. They were wonderful people, and I miss them both.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 06:00:43 +0000

Gymnasts are legendary for their ability/stupidity in sucking up the pain of an injury. I don’t know how that Japanese gymnast even landed a dismount with a broken knee cap!

By: Kim W.

Kim W. — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:33:23 +0000

There’s also Gabriella Anderson-Scheiss from Switzerland, who was one of the runners in the first-ever Women’s Marathon. She was the one who came in to do her final lap nearly bent double and staggering because she was suffering severe heat exhaustion, but when people tried to rush out and help her, she waved them off — because if they touched her, she would be disqualified. Medics saw she was still perspiring, which meant that she still was somewhat hydrated, so they decided to let her keep going, but keep an eye on her. She staggered around the stadium for her final lap — it took her 5 minutes — and then after she crossed the finish line she collapsed and the medics jumped to work. Technically she came in 37th, but everyone remembers her.

By: Gollum

Gollum — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 23:14:50 +0000

Dorando Pietri was an Italian marathon runner who came into the stadium at London (1908) ahead of the field, but so dehydrated that he started running the wrong way. Officials turned him round, and later helped him up (still in the lead) when he fell over, and finally assisted him across the line to beat the US competitor in second place.
Not unreasonably, the US team protested and Pietri was stripped of his medal but became a folk hero in the UK and was awarded a gilded silver cup by Queen Alexandra.
On another topic, Australians are notoriously the most arrogant and offensive players and teams in the world of cricket.

By: Big-Iain

Big-Iain — Sat, 29 May 2010 17:23:54 +0000

Jenny, the athlete who hobbled around the track after a hamstring problem was Derek Redmond.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nifq3Ke2Q30

By: EastOfEden

EastOfEden — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:05:20 +0000

tasmanian devil: Maybe you should go have a chat with Dale Begg-Smith. Canadian born he might be, but he skis for your country because he didn’t like how the Canadian teams train. When he lost to Alexandre Bilodeau, his face said it all. There was no dignity and honour there, only a spoiled rotten brat who didn’t get what he wanted.

By: Jina

Jina — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:36:01 +0000

I’ve always loved the story of Korean marathon runner Sohn Kee-chung (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sohn_Kee-chung), who won the gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Because Korea was a Japanese colony at the time, Sohn was forced to run under the Japanese flag, but he always signed his name in Korean and refused to identify himself as Japanese in interviews. At the medal ceremony, he refused to acknowledge the Japanese flag, a pretty bold move considering the Japanese imprisoned members of a newspaper that edited out the Japanese flag on his clothes in their photos. Korea honored him decades later by making him the torch bearer in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.