Derek Redmond Heart of a true Athlete

Very Inspiring!

BARCELONA: TRACK & FIELD; British Runner Is a Hero Even Without a Medal

Print Derek Redmond could remember trying to get up, trying to break away from the stretcher bearers in some crazy effort to qualify on Monday night in a 400-meter semifinal with a torn right hamstring.

"It was all animal instinct," Redmond said today, at the Olympic Village. "I kept thinking I could still catch the other runners. I didn't want to quit. I'm a very selfish person."

And then, the 26-year-old British runner was suddenly on the track. But he rose in terrible pain, and maintaining his lane, Redmond resumed his quest merely to finish. He was soon joined by his father, a casual apparition in T-shirt, khaki pants and ball cap.

"You don't have to do this," Jim Redmond told his son, after he climbed down from the stands, past the men with badges. "You don't have to put yourself through this." Determined to Finish Race

Derek Redmond informed his father that he was going to finish this Olympic race, because he never started the one in Seoul, South Korea, four years earlier. He dropped out in 1988, just 90 seconds before his first heat, because of a hamstring problem. That would not happen again.

The son limped ahead, and his father gave him a hand, an arm, a few words.

"Well, then," Jim Redmond told his son, "we're going to finish this together."

The Redmonds went halfway round the track, an eternal 200 meters, Derek's head buried at times into his father's shoulders. The crowd at the Olympic Stadium roared at the spectacle. Father and son fended off security guards and overzealous track officials, who came at them in waves. A Man With a Mission

"I don't speak Spanish," Jim Redmond would say, "and I wasn't going to be stopped by anything."

Derek's coach, Tony Hadley, saw all this and started bawling. He forgot to click his stopwatch. The watch just kept running.

Father and son trudged across television screens everywhere. Back in Northampton, England, Derek's mother, Jennie, wept when she saw her son sobbing in pain. She remembered that the last time he looked so unhappy was when he did not get a chopper bike for his sixth birthday. Derek's pregnant sister, Karen, went into a false labor.

On the day after all the commotion, Redmond could smile at his new status as Olympic hero. He said he was embarrassed by all the attention, all the congratulatory messages in his computer. He was even embarrassed by his father, who had worried for weeks that his son would injure himself again in Barcelona.

Stepping into the blocks on Monday night, Redmond dedicated the race to his father in the stands. His father moved to Northampton from Trinidad and Tobago in 1959, opened a machine shop and worked very hard to pay for all the training. Sometimes, Derek had taken this for granted. He wouldn't anymore. 'This One's for You'

Redmond flew away at the start. He felt better than ever before. A time of 44.00 seconds, he believed, was not impossible.

"I felt I could win a silver here," Redmond said. "I told my coach: 'We're going to enjoy this one. We're going to come back with something.' " Then, the right hamstring popped, and the other runners kept moving around the track.

Five years of training were lost. "Five times 365 days," was the way Redmond put it today. "A prison term." Words of Comfort

After he finished his race, sitting alone under the stands, Redmond was approached by Linford Christie, the 100-meter gold-medal winner. The two British runners had never liked each other. They rarely spoke.

This time, Christie put his arms around Redmond. Both men cried.

"He has a heart," Redmond said. "I've changed my views of him completely."

Redmond is now an Olympic hero back home, without a medal. He will try to keep racing, all the way to Atlanta in 1996. Even if he doesn't make it, people will remember him the way they remember Gabriele Andersen-Scheiss of Switzerland, staggering to the finish line in the women's marathon at Los Angeles in 1984.

"It looks like I did this on purpose," Redmond said. "Believe me, that's not how it happened."

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Derek
• Redmond
• Barcelona
• 1992
• Inspiring
• Race
• Runner

[MoonshadowRogue]

I remember seeing this live. I watched with tears as he made it past the finish line.

This is THE spirits of sports. 18 years later, much older and more cynical, it STILL brings tears to my eyes.

This, in my opinion, is THE very finest sportive moment of the Barcelona olympics

[MichaelJvideos237]

Most inspirational moment in sports

[Kylec3]

@holydudewdfguy u mad god doesnt exist? someones in denial

[holydudewdfguy]

@Kylec3 I was very touched by all these nice comments until i read your fucking comment like what the fuck... fuck you this is why we can't have nice comments on an inspirational video

[Kylec3]

@hrisnec god doesnt exist, deal with it

[hrisnec]

@Kylec3 you need a dad to help you mend your heart brother:).

[jsoonlee]

Love how the Dad says "Get away from my son!" at 3:11

[beeemdubya]

Does anyone know what seed he was and if he was favored to win? Just curious

[Elle2142]

@chaitanyaforgames Creed - Arms Wide Open.

[rahla53]

What in the world! Why is not a paramedic there to help, he could hurt his nerves or tendons forever if he doesn't get a massage right away.....it is very emotional to watch, but really someone had to help him!

[Kylec3]

I was very inspired until i saw the fucking biblical quote and thanking god for this what the fuck.. fuck you this is why we cant have nice things

[cspr16mo]

derek redmond didn't like this video.

[BrettByFlip]

You are my hero...

[fesuma]

this is fucking beautiful,

[chrisross93]

If this isnt inspirational, i dunno what is.

[chaitanyaforgames]

@fisilk Thanks buddy :)

[fisilk]

@chaitanyaforgames Try googling "song arms wide open"

[chaitanyaforgames]

it inspires me so much..

can i know which track is this? The song playing in the background of this video?

Pls tell me.

[EMROLF13]

,.it iNSpire me so muCH..of how GOD loVE us so mUCH...he nvr leave us..:-(

[ADEMruinedmylife909]

@sbtbfanatic How can you say that he "faked" pulling a hamstring? Have you ever pulled a hamstring? In terms of pain, childbirth is number one, pulling a hamstring is a close second.

He may not have won the race, but the lesson from his performance here is an inspiration to everyone who sees it (with the obvious exception of you).

[bowrag]

@sbtbfanatic are you serious? you must be pleasure to be around with that kind of attitude.

[csfreak26]

I bet that 220-270 meters felt like a marathon

[FarmSimChat]

What a man!

[Magicpianoteacher]

this is what SPORTS truly means.

[IzzatCrazy]

My malay teacher show it to me in class just now and I cried

[HolySnail]

@sbtbfanatic if you play sport, any sport, and got injured before, you will know how it feels to get injured - especially in a BIG event

getting back up alone is a very brave thing to do, not to mention finishing it