1992- Derek Redmond

    Moments to Remember Featuring... Derek & Jim Redmond

    As I have read in many articles, Derek Redmond has earned a memorable place in Olympic history, but I think he should have earned more than that.  His story, his experience in the Olympics, is heart breaking and heart warming at the same time.  For example, in 1988, Derek was forced to withdraw from a 400 meters race, due to an injury.  The people that run the Olympics didn't even give him a heads up, they just told him he couldn't compete ten minutes before the race.  I thought that was ridiculous and unfair because it should be up to the Olympian to determine whether they want to compete or not.  This was the heartbreaking part that I was talking about, but fortunately, things got better.

    The next Olympics that he participated in, which was 1992, he was ready to win a medal.  With his father, Jim, in the stands, they both agreed that no matter what happened during the race,  Derek would finish the race, at any cost.  So, as I was reading this I was like, "this is going really well," but things then things take an unexpected twist.  And I know, I am sorry that I told you all that things were going to get better, the good part is coming soon, I promise.  So, like I was saying, as he was running in the semifinal heat, Derek heard a pop in his right hamstring.  At first, he didn't feel anything, but then after a couple strides, pain attacked him.  He fell to the floor holding the back of his leg.  From the videos I have watched about this event, it looked like he was holding back a lot of emotion. Okay so now... the devastating part is over and this is the part where it gets good.

    After being on the floor for a couple of seconds, Derek got up and started wobbling towards the finish line.  At this point, from my perspective, he looked like he was in excruciating pain.  You could tell that he was struggling to get to the finish line.  As he was trying to accomplish this task, his father comes from the stands, to the track, to help his son.  Jim pushes past security, just to get to his son.  I thought this was really heartwarming because this was a major father and son moment.  And when Derek's father got to him and put his arm around him, Derek no longer kept back his emotion.  This got me all choked up and I started thinking about how my father carried me off the field when I injured my calf.  Anyway, Jim and Derek crossed the finish line together, as the crowd was going wild.

    In the end, people started to realize that Derek was really meant to finish the race.  And as Derek said in his documentary, people will not remember me from finishing a race, but from me not finishing a race.  I believe people will remember him from that heart warming-moment that he has with his dad and determination and commitment into finishing that race.

Links I used to support my claims and statements:
http://www.beliefnet.com/entertainment/2008/09/top-15-most-inspirational-olympic-moments.aspx?p=12
https://nationalparentsorganization.org/blog/722-derek-redmond-a-grea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjkBPthoYVg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn5C8Coi5qU