Olympic Failures Are Great Life Lessons!
One of the most inspiring things that you will ever watch is Olympic athletes achieving their goals. Skating, slushing and sledging their way into sports history, these athletes are an inspiration to each one of us. But we often don’t consider those who fail, stumble and crash in their quest. But those athletes provide lessons to the rest of us when we try to reach the winner’s podium in our own lives. Why don’t we take a few minutes to look over a few uniquely inspirational stories of Olympians and the things they can teach us:
1. Eric Moussambani Malonga: Eric is a swimmer who is from Equatorial Guinea. Eric was a competitor in the 100-metre freestyle at the 2000 Sydney Olympic games. He swam alone because both his opponents were disqualified for false starts. Eric had only taught himself how to swim less than a year earlier and had only ever practised swimming in a lake; as a result, he was only able to just keep his head above water. Eric was able to complete the race and in doing so set a new Equatoguinean national record. Eric was hailed as a national hero.
2. John Stephen Akhwari: The marathon runner from Tanzania fell at the 19-kilometre point during the 42-kilometre race in the 1968 Mexico City games when other runners were jockeying for position. In spite of the fact that he dislocated his knee and sustained a shoulder injury, he kept running and eventually finished the race last. When Eric finally finished the race, most of the spectators had already gone home and the sun had actually set. He said, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; they sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”
3. Dorando Pietri: In the 1908 Olympic Games, the marathon began in the middle of a hot afternoon. As Pietri was running, fatigue and dehydration hit him. When he entered the stadium, he went in the wrong direction. Umpires pointed out his mistake and helped him up when he fell many times. Dorando came first in the race; however, the judges made the decision to disqualify him for the assistance he received. Still, Queen Alexandra was very impressed with his efforts, so she gave him a silver cup. He became an international celebrity.
4. Voula Papachristou: The Greek triple jumper was kicked off her team for the 2012 games in London after racist comments she made on Twitter. She claimed her tweet was a joke. But as a newspaper noted, “This would have been the first Olympic Games for Papachristou. Instead, she’ll be remembered for making history the wrong way.”