1. Cuban Wrestler – Leaves His Boots in the Ring
Mijaín López, the Olympic Champion of the heaviest Greco-Roman wrestling weight class bent down on his right knee, untied his boot lace and took off his left boot. The crowd start to applaud. He looks up humbly. Then he switches knees and unties his right boot, then pushes both boots away from him, looks at them and then picks them up, kisses them and places them back down on the canvas for the very last time. The crowd are going ballistic. They know this is the end of arguably the greatest Olympian of all time, as Mijain Lopez is the only Olympian to have won 5 consecutive gold medals in the same Olympic individual event. Having started his Olympic adventure way back in 2004, here he is is 20 years wiser and greater – saying goodbye, just shy of his 42nd birthday. Who would have thought that a 10-year-old kid from Herradura, a poor town in western Cuba, would one day, become known as ‘El Terrible’ since he dominated his sport for so long.
“The legacy that I want to leave to all the young people who follow me is to always fight for what they want to achieve,” he said. “There are no goals, there is no age, there are no purposes in life that cannot be achieved.” As Patrick Skene says López final words were, timeless wisdom: “Be wise,….always let yourself be loved by all the people who love you, by all your coaches, by your family.”
Thank you Mijaín López, arguably, the greatest and most humble Olympic immortal.
Image courtesy of @HardMMAF and thank you to Patrick Skeene for alerting me to this story.
2. American Gold Invites St Lucia Silver To The Bell
Gabby Thomas works as a volunteer at night, gets up and trains in the morning, studies in the afternoon, except, when she’s winning gold Medals in the Olympics. Back home, in Texas, Gabby volunteers at a health clinic for those who cannot afford proper medical care. Upon winning gold in Paris 2024 200m, she didn’t pose for cameras holding her name tag or pointing to her country’s emblem, instead, she chose to hug St Lucia’s sensation (100m gold winner) Julian Alfredos, who came second in the 200m and console her by telling her that she (Julian) is ‘a hero and a role model to young women in her country.’ And then the extraordinary Gabby Thomas did the extraordinary (yet again). Gabby invites Julian to come and ring the bell with her – a new convention that is reserved for gold medalists only. Julian declined. You can see the friendship between these opponents.
Visual courtesy of Eurosport. Thanks to Michael Vathilakis & Will Carling for alerting me to this story.
3. Pakistani Village Propels Javelin and Stuns the World
‘It takes a village to raise a gold medallist!’ says Patrick Skene. This is a rags to riches story about Arshad Nadeem, the man who ended Pakistan’s 40-year gold medal drought with a whopping great Javelin throw of 92.97m! He trained at home (his backyard) without any real javelin facilities. His father worked harder to pay for his competition and his village in Khanewal in Pakistani Punjab funded his competition expenses. He wanted to compete in the Olympics but got no government funding for the Tokyo Olympics. Once again, his village helped him. He made it to Tokyo 2021 and came 5th. For Paris 2024, he needed a new javelin but had no money, so he reached out and asked for help via social media for a new javelin. He got his javelin and headed for Paris where he duly ‘swept aside all comers, twice throwing more than 90 metres and setting a new Olympic record of 92.97m with a beautifully balanced throw……..
Video courtesy of Eurosport. Thanks to Patrick Skeene for alerting me to this story.
Congratulations to Arshad Nadeem for reminding us all that beyond training facilities, science, tech, the raw talent, the unbreakable spirit, the love and support from a family and the local village community can still deliver gold.
4. Irish Rowers Taken Downtown by French
Gold Medalists Irish rowers, Paul O’Donovan & Fintan McCarthy share the comradery between opponents in this heart-warming interview, where the French invite the Irish to come and celebrate in downtown Paris. At 2’50” O’Donovan says:
“The French say they’re going to take us for some baguettes & wine downtown in Paris later on today They had a good race to finish out the B Final there. They’re good lads. You know they beat us in Lucern last year. They were disappointed not to make the final in their home crowd, but em, you know they were cheering us on this morning, before went out. They’re two good lads. The whole lightweight field – they’re all very friendly lads. So hopefully we’ll try and meet up with as many of them as we can later on, as well as – there’s a few of the Irish ….win or lose we’re all enjoying ourselves together and enjoying each others’ successes. I think there’s probably a few people that were hoping for more, but I’m sure their time will come in the future too.”
Video courtesy of RTE O’Donovan & McCarthy reflect on gold downtown in Paris.
An interesting twist to this story occurred when on the flight back home to Dublin………
An Irish fan was flying home from the Paris Olympics after watching the equestrian events at Versailles. Kieran Duggan found himself sitting near the two double Olympic gold medallists (Olympic Rowing Champions – lightweight double sculls), Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy. They had a great chat and he ended up giving them (plus Natalie Long, from the women’s fours plus a lot of kit) a lift from Dublin to Cork. They were going to get a bus (and were hoping it wasn’t sold out!’) and then maybe someone might pick them (and all their kit) to take them on home to their beautiful town of Skibereen in West Cork.
Kieran Duggan now says:
“It is not everyone can say they went to the Olympics and brought home two gold medallists!”
5. Indian’s Quiet Celebration with Chinese Badminton Player
India’s Lakshya Sen won the quarter-finals of the Men’s Badminton – the first time an Indian male badminton player has made it this far. However, he did not celebrate. He refused the temptation of jumping, dancing and celebrating. He chose, instead, to celebrate his Olympic win silently with a simple shake of the hands. Why? His opponent, China’s Chou Tien-chen, is fighting colorectal cancer. This, in itself, is a huge Olympian feat for the Chinese player as, despite having surgery last year, Chou Tien-chen somehow managed to qualify to represent China in the Olympics 2024.
His very participation was, in itself, an Olympic achievement. Lakshya’s decision to not celebrate in front of his opponent was a subtle display of respect. Great sportsmanship!
Thank you to Dr Jaison Philip for alerting me to this story.
6. No Medals But Plenty of Joy
Watch this interview. Truly excellent Irish sports journalist, David Gillick, helped the Women’s 4 x 400m relay team keep it together and extract more joy rather than sadness from the medal-less Irish heroines who shared their joy and pride of participating in an Olympic Finals – Ireland’s first-ever 4 x 400m Olympic finalists. Great Interview – “You’ve taken 3 seconds off the national record. I know it’s hard but what’s going through your head?” says Gillick and as he moves onto the final runner he reassures her by reminding and prompting her that “The journey that not only you but the whole squad has been on – has been amazing.”
Thanks to @Garry Connolly for alerting me to this story.
7. “I feel like a failure” but Australian Boxer Rises Again
This is really raw. Harry Garside is a great man. He reveals his vulnerability about his mental health, the dark side of sport and the hurt of losing an Olympic dream and the weight of expectation on his shoulders. But also, courtesy of great interviewer, Harry, who was going for gold, managed to pick himself up, thank many people and inspire many more. ‘Real champions are revealed in losing’ says Patrick Skeene. ‘It’s not whether you won or lost, but, how you played the game’ (see below).
After the shock first round loss to Hungarian Richard Kovacs, the two-time Olympian (he won bronze in Tokyo) Garside said he “feels like a failure” after “devoting two decades to a dream, that is over just like that.” He then apologised to everyone. Despite the deep pain, Harry Garside managed to end the interview with an inspirational message for any kids watching.
See Patrick Skene’s Linkedin post to watch this unsettling video interview but be warned. It is not easy viewing.
8. Pipped By Two-Hundredths of a Second BUT Feels Like A Winner
Adam Peaty (GB) was stopped from making history by becoming the first person to win the Men’s 100m Breaststroke Gold Medal in three consecutive Olympic Games – by just two-hundredths of a second. He instantly swam over to the victorious Italian, Nicolo Martinenghi, to congratulate him. Peaty had previously suffered severe mental issues, retired and came back for this Olympics.
“I gave my absolute all there. I executed it as well as I could. It’s not about the end goal, it’s all about the process and it doesn’t matter what the time says on the score because in my heart I’ve already won.…. I’m not crying because I’ve come second. I’m crying because it took so much to get here….To get a silver, I feel like I have won and it’s the one that means the most. My heart is so happy because I can theoretically lose and feel like I have won.” Swimming.org
9. A Very Different Irish Celebration – Boxer Sings A Song
Some Olympic champions leap around the place. Others punch fists in the air. While others collapse in tears. However, Ireland’s Double #Olympic #Boxing #Gold #Medalist, Kellie Harrington chose differently. Firstly she gave a little boogie dance while still in the ring – after her opposite boxer had left.
https://www.tiktok.com/@rte2/video/7400374134515043616
Video courtesy of @rte2
Then Kellie came back dressed in her tracksuit and sang a song to the patient Irish fans who had waited for her inside the arena. So Kellie sang a song, ‘Grace’ – arguably Ireland’s most romantic/heartbreaking song ever written.
Thanks to John Dawson for alerting me to this story and HerSport.ie for capturing it.
10. Four Powerful Words Made British Triathlon Win
As fatigued British triathlon runner, Alex Lee, came around the bend for the very last lap he was 14 seconds behind the leader. In the crowd, stood the former Olympic champion, Britain’s Alistair Brownlee (2012 & 2016 Gold Medal triathlon) – he shouted some words that made a huge difference: ‘Anything can happen mate.’
Lee described how he heard the words (with one lap to go he (Brownlee) ‘said to me, “Anything can happen, mate.” Lee admitted, “It fired me up.”
‘He (Brownlee) shouted that out. It’s a pretty special moment to look back at that now. It definitely was a moment of belief…. It’s pretty special when somebody does that. “I don’t even know if I thought I was going to win” [after overtaking his good friend and competitor Hayden Wilde]. Yee overtook Wilde, and then sprinted across the bridge to the finish line, eventually winning by six seconds. Yee and Wilde embraced and sat together, exhausted, on the road – an iconic image demonstrating the comraderie, between the Kiwi and the Brit.
An iconic photo of Yee and Wilde at the end of the triathlon captures the essence of Olympisism.
https://twitter.com/BBCSport/status/1818597135098564822
Video Courtesy of BBC
When asked about the iconic image (see below), Yee said: “I think it’s just an appreciation for each other. We work hard day in and day out to be the best athletes we can be. When there is that one person that pushes you to those new limits and those new heights, I have so much appreciation for him. As a person who’s allowed me to do that.”
Thanks to Tim March for alerting me to this story.
11. You Are Never Too Old – Olympic Debut at 58
You are never too old to try something new, or in this case, something you once loved. Zeng Zhiying made her Olympic debut at 58. Forty years ago (1984) at the tender age of 18, Zeng Zhiying expected to go to the Olympics for her birth country, China. She was one of the best table-tennis players in the world. A new ‘two-colour’ rule meant that the bat could no longer be black on both sides. This upset Zeng who used to rotate the pad/bat to confuse her opponents. Different colours let opponents see which side she was using and was not so unpredictable anymore.
She never made the Olympic team and at 20 years old, retired from the game. She became a table tennis coach in school overseas in Chile. Years later covid came, Zeng started playing again to keep fit and healthy and soon fell in love with her game again. She made the Chilean team at the age of 58. Despite losing her match, she said: “But I don’t feel very sad, because this is sport. My husband, my sons, everyone I love and care about were there shouting my name. I feel so content.”
Inspired from Hindustan Times Spots Desk & Adam Ryan on X
Thanks to Rashmi Dattrashmi Datt
12. North & South Korea Unite – Olympism Prevails
North & South Korea unite for a ‘selfy’ (photo). Some say this photo says it all – about the Olympics and nicely summarises Paris 2024. One of the original goals of the Olympics is ‘to make new friends from different countries’ So when one of the South Korean athletes produced a cell phone for a group photo at the podium, everyone smiled. See the photo here.
This photo went viral and is being hailed as ‘a rare show of cross-border unity’ and a way of showing the “true Olympics Spirit”. In this mixed doubles table tennis, China won the gold, North Korea won the silver and South Korea won the bronze.
The medals ceremony ‘selfie’ shows South Korea’s Lim Jonghoon, left, taking the photograph with North Korea’s Ri Jong-sik, second left, and Kim Kum-yong, third left, China’s Wang Chuqin, second right, and Sun Yingsha, this right and his teammate Shin Yubin.
The Essence of Olympism.
The goals of the Olympic movement are:
To educate man in both mind and body.
To compete in sport rather than war.
To foster friendship amongst young people.
To bring different nations closer together.
If you liked this you might also like:
[] Olympism – The Real Dream (4 min video)
[] How Sport Can Save The World (my TedXTalk)
[] Top 10 Tokyo 2021 Olympic Sportsmanship Moments
[] How London 2012 Became ‘The Friendly Olympics’
[] Euro 2024 Magical Sportsmanship Moments
[] Not that You Won or Lost but How You Played The Game join this conversation that’s been continuing for 16 years!
[] Top 10 Sportsmanship Moments 2023….. 2022….2021…2020….and more scroll past the videos and you’ll find Top 10 Moments for each year as recorded by BBC Radio London and The Great Sportsmanship Programme.
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