By the time of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, I had entered my teens. I had grown to love sports and had begun learning important life lessons through sporting competitions.
I had watched the "Miracle on Ice" of 1980 when a team of Collegiate American Hockey players defeated the heavily favoured Soviet Big Red Machine. As a hockey fan I was thrilled to see my New York Islanders emerge as 4 time Stanley Cup Champions after so many years on the periphery. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were going mano a mano in what was a team sport.
The lessons learned were that David can slay Goliath, teamwork can pay off and sometimes a white guy can win the NBA Championship...LOL!
Into this mix the cold war era Summer Olympics came along. For the first time, women were competing for a Gold medal in the marathon. I watched on TV, captivated, as Joan Benoit (USA) broke away from the pack and widened her lead right into the finish. She ran the final lap in the LA Coliseum without any of her competitors in sight. She crossed the finish line to the cheers of the partisan American crowd and the networks were happy.
However the truly inspiring moment was yet to come. Way back from Joan Benoit was Gabrielle Anderson of Switzerland. She had been overcome by heat and when she entered the stadium she was not a picture of grace. She looked terrible to say the least.
But she was still moving (barely). She waved away medical personnel lest she be disqualified. She stumbled around and couldn't move in a straight line and her body was leaning awkwardly the whole way.
BUT SHE DIDN'T QUIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Watching Gabrielle Anderson collapsing over the finish line in 37th place made quite an impression on this 14 year old boy.
Now through the magic of youtube I was able to view her finish again 27 years later and it still gave me the chills.
Joan Benoit won the Gold Medal that day. It's a common saying in sports that "nobody ever remembers who came second." True enough! For me the most memorable person at the first women's Olympic Marathon in 1984 finished 37th.
The language of the commentary is not important. If you watch the video....well judge for yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZFNiuuApFU&feature=related
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