1976 Olympics gymnastics Shun Fujimoto

[magicapricot]

HE PUT DA TEAM ON HIS BACK DO

[mazzer102]

OMG he is an inspiriration

[jogapokk]

Meu, o cara é o máximo!

[ascoobyg]

This is extremely inspiring.

[Mahlercougar]

I made a mental not to myself Years ago that I wouldnt forget Shun Fujimoto's name. He showed courage through pain and triumphed to help his team obtain the gold. A legend...

Funny thing... In a recent interview with Fujimoto, when asked, If he were to do it over again would he? He said emphatically..... "NO, I wouldnt not!" LOL

hehehehe

[BillBrd1]

Incredible. Absolutely incredible.

[JimAsian1]

Self Sacrifice, advice for the 2010 Japanese Olympic Team who didn't win any Gold Medals. They really have to get their act together and get mentally stronger

Peace and love

[JR113FTW]

what a champ

[WeaknessPaysCash]

Damn, you can tell he was hurting when he landed

amazing

[curt]

damn! why is the audio really quiet?! :(

[Naproxenum]

Heil to this Noble Man!!

[MeitaBoy]

Beautiful. Simply beautiful.

[TheRosettaStoned]

isnt he the guy from star trek?

[girolle01]

I wish Tomita and Kashima wouldn't have retired. Man, how can he do those dismounts on a broken leg? Wow!

[jkygogo]

I wonder why the Women Japanese Gymnast are not doing as good these days? Maybe in the future. The Men are doing better, but still need to improve.

[nlm2183]

The Japanese women's team is on the uprise and had one of their best finishes in years at the 2008 Olympics -5th.

[melonhad678]

GO Japan! :)

[unstuckjo]

He's courageous and amazing but I think it's scary and wrong that at this elite level, sport is no longer about fitness and winning becomes more important than even health. I don't think he made the right decision.

[jairus]

If it makes you feel any better, this is from The Guardian:

Asked years later whether he would do it again, Fujimoto replied with an emphatic: "No, I would not".

[adeklis]

Well to him he did. and it wasn't just for him, it was for his team and his country. To me there no higher honor. To him it wasn't just about the Gold medal it was about unity and representing. I think hes an amazing person.

[misha33314]

You think that way because you can not comprehend the power of his mentality.

[karnerblue2002]

Farve couldn't carry this guy's jock strap. And I'm a cheesehead.

[ralucagymnast]

This moves me to tears; the doctor who treated him afterwards said he couldnt comprehend how Shun didnt "collapse in screams of pain" after landing his dismount. Shun still walks with a limp even to this day. When asked about it Shun said "the pain shot through me like a knife and brought tears to my eyes. But now I have a gold medal and I dont feel any pain". What a man.

[27twentyseven27]

In another interview it turns out on his initial floor exercise his knee cap was already shattered to bits. Truly amazing.

[pellebravesskylar]

Brave, amazing guy.

[aardvark1111]

I remember watching this on TV in 1976. The sports commentator was in awe that he was going to perform his routine.

So, we all knew what to expect: Shun did the routine nearly flawlessly and then landed the dismount as well as one could land a dismount on a single working leg, injuring himself badly as he knew he would. This is always the performance I think of when I think of courage.

[paltonis]

Man would this guy have been a great kamikaze pilot. (I know I probably spelled that wrong.)

[Birdman4179]

We were talking about this performance at lunch today. We remembered it was the 1976 Olympics, and that it was a Japanese gymnast who did the rings with a broken leg, but we could not remember his name. I almost feel ashamed for that after looking him up and finding this video. Thank you for posting it.

[windsorsaints]

Wow! That's amazing!

[mehish1]

Holy crap.

[997C4S]

Intestinal fortitude and team loyalty at its finest. How I long for these simpler days where it was love of competition that prevailed over money.

[leegraphics]

Here in the west we tend to admire athletes who win Gold only to relinquish it after being caught using banned substances. I was young when this happened but it stayed with me throughout the years and still I admire him after all this time. Havn't seen a similar act of courage since.

[tide32athlete]

I remember the first time I heard about him and saw this on video. He became one of my idols after that.

[whipback]

Thanks for this! This is really great!