We can learn from 3 Olympic champions who overcame hardships
The 2024 Paris Olympics are just around the corner. On July 26, tens of millions of people around the world will tune in to watch the opening ceremony and the games to follow in the coming weeks. Not to mention the more than 8.6 million attendees who have already purchased tickets.
Since the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896, renowned athletes from around the world have demonstrated perseverance, courage and determination. This year, more than 10,500 athletes will compete in the 2024 Olympic Summer Games.
Every four years as the games are held, we’ve triumphed together in victories, held our breaths during pivotal moments and shared moments of defeat. While we gear up to watch this year’s games, let’s take some time to remember a few renowned American Olympians who can continue to motivate and encourage us.
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Here are three lessons from famous Olympians that can inspire us today.
American Olympian Jesse Owens running in the 200-meter sprint, a new Olympic record. Berlin. August 4, 1936. (Photo by Austrian Archives/Imagno/Getty Images)
Stand strong against opposition
Jesse Owens faced impossible odds. He was the grandson of a slave, born to a sharecropper in Alabama in a time of segregation. However, Owens’ athletic abilities became apparent while he was young.
Owens set several junior high school records at age 15. In high school, he set numerous world records, including tying the 100-yard dash world record, and setting the 220-yard dash and long jump world records.
On May 25, 1935, Owens participated in the 1935 Big Ten Championships but was afraid he would be unable to compete due to a back injury. However, in a span of just 45 minutes, he set three world records and tied a fourth.
Owens then went on to participate in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which were overseen by Adolf Hitler. He became the first American to take home four gold medals in track and field. Owens inspired millions around the world, while combating segregation and undermining Hitler’s race theory.
Owens’ determination to succeed regardless of what stood against him reminds us to stand for what we believe in, no matter what opposition we may face. His courage and dedication inspired millions and is a powerful example of how one person can make a difference.
Never give up
Wilma Rudolph was born to a family of 22 children in St. Bethlehem, Tennessee. As a child, she was paralyzed by polio, and contracted scarlet fever and double pneumonia. She was told she would never be able to walk. However, her family refused to give up.
In her autobiography, Rudolph wrote, "My doctor told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother."
By age 11, she was able to run. And just four years later, at the age of 16, Rudolph won her first Olympic medal in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
Two of America's greatest gymnasts, Simone Biles (l.) and Kerri Strug. (AP/Getty Images)
Rudolph went on to compete in the 1960 Rome Olympics. In one week, she became the first American woman to win three Olympic gold medals in one game, earning herself the title of the fastest woman in the world and breaking a world record in the process.
Despite what she was told as a child, Rudolph believed that she would walk again. And she did. Her determination eventually led her to win four Olympic gold medals and inspires us to never give up, no matter how impossible things may seem.
Don’t let the fear of failure define you
Kerri Strug was only 14 when she participated in her first Olympics event. An Arizona native, Strug spent years training to qualify for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She would participate on a six-person women’s gymnastics team as one of the youngest athletes in the games and help her team take home a medal.
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Over the next few years, Strug juggled intense training and schooling, overcoming several injuries and lengthy recoveries in the process. Despite her setbacks, she managed to earn multiple medals at the world championships and graduate high school a year early. After her graduation, she decided to delay attending college to train for the upcoming Olympics.
FILE: Pictured above are the members of the American relay team which won the 400-meter relay race at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. They bettered the world and the Olympic records at 0:39.8. Left to right: Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, Foy Draper and Frank Wykoff. (Getty Images)
Strug entered the 1996 Atlanta Olympics as a member of the U.S. gymnastics team that would become known as the "Magnificent Seven." On July 23, 1996, her team was pitted against the Russian and Romanian teams for the gold medal. With one rotation left, the team only had a narrow lead.
After her first vault, Strug landed awkwardly and tore two ligaments in her ankle. After consulting with her coaches, she decided to attempt her final vault, eager to push herself and her team to the gold. On her final vault, Strug stuck the landing with her injured leg and won the gold for Team USA.
Strug endured several painful injuries throughout her gymnastic career, one of which occurred during a pivotal moment in the Olympics. But what made that moment so memorable to millions of people wasn’t that she got injured — it was that she got back up and tried again — and helped her team take home the victory. Her example reminds us to push forward and not let our fear of failure define us or stop us from getting back up.
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Rudolph went on to compete in the 1960 Rome Olympics. In one week, she became the first American woman to win three Olympic gold medals in one game, earning herself the title of the fastest woman in the world and breaking a world record in the process.
This year marks the 128th anniversary of the Olympics. Since the first competition, the Olympics have taught us the value of determination, teamwork and unity. These brave athletes remind us of what we are capable of as individuals, and more importantly, as a team.
This year, as we gather together again to cheer on our nation’s teams and celebrate our fellow nations’ victories, let’s remember how we can be united and encourage one another.
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