brief story of the olympics

1. Inspirational Olympic Stories

2. The Jamaican Bobsled Team,
Calgary, 1988

3. This is Jamaica. As you can tell,
Jamaica and snow don’t go together!

4. How could Jamaica, a
country of year-round
sunshine and beaches,
possibly compete with
snowbound places like
Switzerland and Norway in
a sport like bobsledding?

5. Funding their
journey by
selling
sweatshirts
and recording
a reggae
theme song …
they did!

6. Proving once again
that …
Impossible
is nothing!

7. Nadia Comaneci
Montreal, 1976

8. At the age of 14,
she became the
youngest-ever
Olympic medalist
in history.

9. She obtained a perfect
score for the uneven bars.
It was the first time in the history
of the modern Olympics.

10. Because the scoreboards did not even have
enough space to show a 10, Nadia's score
appeared as 1.00.

11. Nadia obtained
seven perfect
10s.

12. One can strive
for perfection.
It goes to
show that

13. Lawrence Lemieux
Seoul, 1988

14. The race began …

15. Sailing conditions
suddenly turned
dangerous.
15 knot winds
escalated to 35
knots and the sea
became choppy.

16. Seeing two sailors thrown into the water, Lawrence
abandoned the race and rescued them.

17. He was second in the race at
that time.
He went on to finish his race
in true Olympic spirit in 22nd
place.
The International Yacht Racing
Union decided to award him
2nd place.
None of the contestants
questioned the decision.

18. Indeed, winning is not everything.

19. Masahiko "Happy" Harada
Nagano, 1998

20. 1994: Japan is in the lead.
Harada, the final jumper, only needs 110 m.
His earlier jump was 122 m.
He jumps only 97.5 m.
The worst jump of anyone in the top 8 teams.
It costs Japan the gold.

21. 1998: Nagano, Japan.
He is in first place after his first jump.
Although he needs only a mediocre second jump,
He falters and lands in fifth place.
He eventually gets the bronze.

22. Then came the team event.
His first jump is a mere 79.5 m.
Japan moves from 1st to 4th.
History looked like it was repeating itself.

23. But his second jump was an astounding 137 m.
The longest jump on skis in Olympic history.
Japan won the gold.

24. Overcome your obstacles.
Deal with the pressure.
Don’t stop doing your best.
Stay optimistic.
Be happy.

25. Billy Mills
1964, Tokyo

26. He lost his parents at
the age of 12.
He didn’t make the High
School Track team on his
first try.

27. His Olympic coach had
such little faith in him that
he didn’t give him a pair
of running shoes;
Billy had to borrow a pair.
On race day no TV
commentator even
mentioned his name.
No one gave him a chance
to win.

28. At the start of the final lap, it
was Billy, an Aussie and a
Tunisian and he was in the
lead.
The Aussie shoved past him,
nearly knocking him off his
feet.
The Tunisian jostled his way
between both of them.
He was now third.

29. In a final spurt, Billy passed the Aussie and the
Tunisian in the last 30 meters of the race, almost
like they were standing still.
You can catch this amazing race on youtube!

31. Wilma Rudolph
1960 Rome

32. Born 2 months premature,
the 20th out of 22 kids,
Wilma suffered scarlet
fever, double pneumonia
and polio, spending her
childhood bedridden.

33. Doctors told her mother that her daughter would
never be able to walk again.
Too poor for hospitalization, her left leg became
deformed so she wore metal leg braces at age 6.
She was unable to walk until
her eighth birthday.

34. Fourteen years later, she became the first
American woman to win three gold medals at the
Olympics for the 100m, 200m and 400m relay.

35. There is no substitute
for courage,
hard work and
determination.

36. Oscar “The Blade Runner” Pistorius
London, 2012?

37. Citius, Altius, Fortius
May these athletes inspire you to press on in the challenges of your life.
© megabum21 2008