Bonnie Richardson wins Texas state track team title by herself — again!

Bonnie Richardson won back-to-back Texas state team track championships by herself.   The senior from Rochelle, Texas (population 600), accomplished what no one before her has done.  By winning the long jump and the high jump and finishing second in the discus, she earned enough points on her own to beat all of the other teams.  In a similar fashion, she won the team title in 2008.  The valedictorian of her class of 14, Richardson plans on attending Texas A&M.

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READ Gary Smith’s excellent article on Bonnie Richardson from Sports Illustrated

ENJOY THIS INTERVIEW OF BONNIE RICHARDSON

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

A motivational story: Running the Sahara (2006)

The Sahara, Arabic for “the greatest desert,” is the world’s largest desert. Covering most of Northern Africa, its land mass is roughly equivalent to the size of the United States. Three men had a goal: to run across the desert from one end of Africa to the other, a distance of 4,300 miles to raise awareness of the poor water conditions in Africa.

Charlie Engle, a 44 year-old business developer and reformed cocaine addict led the expedition. Ray Zahab, a 37 year-old personal trainer who had taken up running just a couple year prior after tiring of the party scene in his native Canada. Kevin Lin, a 30 year-old grad student from Taiwan and experienced marathoner, rounded out the team.

They ran an average of 50 miles per day for nearly four months straight without a day off in 2006. They endured dehydration, dust storms, sweltering heat, extreme fatigue and other physical hardships. But, they made it. Their run lasted 111 days and took them through 6 countries.  Their test of endurance and human will serves as a motivational story for all of us.

The Running the Sahara expedition is told in a documentary film, narrated and produced by Matt Damon and directed by Oscar-winner James Moll. “The film follows the runners and captures the diverse culture of the Saharan people.” Read more about the expedition at www.runningthesahara.com including the charitable component:  H20 Africa.

Running the Sahara movie trailer:

Wilma Rudolph overcomes childhood polio to become “fastest woman in the world” (1960)

When doctors told Wilma Rudolph’s mother that she’d never walk because of “infantile paralysis” caused by the polio virus, apparently her mother and Wilma never bought into their message. Her mother took her on 50 mile bus rides to receive physical therapy twice a week for several years from their home in Tennessee. As the 20th of 22 Rudolph children, Wilma had many siblings to help her with massaging her legs 4 times daily.

She was fitted with a braces on her legs to help straighten them. “I spent most of my time trying to figure out how to get them off,” she said. “But when you come from a large, wonderful family, there’s always a way to achieve your goals,” said Rudolph. Within a few years, in a Forrest Gump-like fashion, she shed her braces. Her parents found her one day playing basketball barefoot with her brothers.

Following in an older sister’s footsteps, Wilma played basketball with a passion. In high school, she led her team to a state championship and set a state record for scoring in one game — 49 points. A track coach encouraged her to pursue running track. At 5′11″ tall, she had a long, powerful stride. She soon became a track star.

She went to her first Olympic Games in 1956 when she was just 16 years old. She won a bronze medal in the 4×4 relay. But, that was just the beginning. At the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Wilma became the first American woman to win 3 gold medals in Olympic history. She won the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, and ran the anchor leg on the 400-meter relay team.

After being told she’d never being able to walk, she was now recognized as the “fastest woman in the world.”  Wilma wrote, “Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: the potential for greatness lives within each of us.” Wilma Rudolph’s story continues to inspire people today.

ENJOY THIS VIDEO

Read more: M.B. Roberts article on Wilma Rudolph at ESPN

Sportsmanship Case Study: A Silver Lining for Olympic Runner

Olympic sprinter Shawn Crawford was no stranger to winning an Olympic medal. Crawford won the gold medal for the 200-meter at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Yet, after being awarded the silver medal at the same event in the 2008 Olympics, he didn’t feel good about it. He had initially finished in fourth place and was only awarded the silver medal after the second and third place finishers were disqualified.

“Every time I look at it, I’m going to be like: ‘This medal was given to me. I don’t deserve it,’ ” Crawford said, when he first learned he would be receiving a medal.

Netherlands Antilles sprinter Churandy Martina was the original second place finisher that was disqualified for stepping into another lane. Eight days after the Olympics, he was in a hotel room and he received a call that a package was waiting for him at the front desk. In the package that Crawford delivered was the silver medal.

Universal Sports’ Dave Ungrady reports

“”It was a surprise,” Martina said. “I was amazed, astonished. I didn’t expect that to happen.”

The caller, who did not identify himself, was American Shawn Crawford, who was awarded the silver medal in the 200 meters at the Beijing Games after Martina finished second but was later disqualified. Crawford felt the medal belonged to Martina.

With the Beijing medal in his hands for the first time, Martina called Crawford and invited him to his hotel room to talk. “He told me he didn’t fell good that it was his medal,” Martina said by phone Monday from El Paso, Tex. where he lives. “He said he doesn’t deserve it.”

Crawford’s act of sportsmanship is believed to be the first time a track and field athlete has willingly given an Olympic medal to a competitor out of a sense of fair play.”

To read complete article: Universal Sports

Another take on the story: ElPaso Times

Churandy Martina’s website where he notes: “Yes !! It is true, Shawn gave me my Olympic medal back…”

Jesse Owens and Luz Long — Olympic Heroes (1936)

African-American Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. No other Olympian had achieved so much in previous Olympics. His success was a major blow to Adolph Hitler, who had hoped to showcase Aryan superiority at the games.

The grandson of a slave and the son of a sharecropper, Owens’ victories were significant on many levels. Perhaps most importantly, it affirmed that an individual’s performance distinguishes one more so than race, religion or national origin.

The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Owens won his first final in the 100 meters by edging out teammate Ralph Metcalfe.

The following day, Owens was nearly out of the long jump competition after qualifying began. He fouled on his first two jumps. One of the jumps was a practice run, but officials counted it as an attempt. With just one jump remaining, Luz Long, a German long jumper who was Owens’ toughest competition, introduced himself. Long had the blond hair, blue-eyed look that Hitler so favored, yet Long didn’t buy into the “master race” propaganda that Hitler espoused. He offered a suggestion to Owens. To play it safe, make your mark several inches before the takeoff board and jump from there. Owens used the advice and qualified on his last jump.

Later that afternoon, Long’s fifth jump matched Owens’ 25-10 in the finals. But Owens won the gold medal with a final jump of 26-5½ on his last jump. The first to congratulate Owens was Long.

“It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler,” Owens said. “You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn’t be a plating on the 24-karat friendship I felt for Luz Long at that moment. Hitler must have gone crazy watching us embrace. The sad part of the story is I never saw Long again. He was killed in World War II.”

Owens added to his gold medal count with wins in the 200 meters and the 4×100 meter relay. The German crowd at the stadium, some 110,000 strong at times, cheered his accomplishments and sought his autograph in the streets during the games.  Jesse Owens’ inspirational sports story captured newspaper headlines across the world.

To learn more about Jesse Owens, visit his foundation’s web site: www.jesse-owens.org

ENJOY THIS VIDEO — Jesse Owens re-visits Berlin in 1964 and relates his experiences during the Olympic Games of 1936.

Derek Redmond’s Olympic Spirit (1992)

Derek Redmond was prepared for the 400m semifinal race at the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992. He felt he was in the best shape of his life. Despite 8 operations on his Achilles tendons over the past 4 years, he felt very confident. His father Jim, sitting in the stands, also had high hopes. Jim and his son were very close and he made it to all of the championship races.

Derek gets off to a good start. Coming around the first bend in the track, tragedy struck as Derek’s hamstring went. Initially he thought he had been shot because the pain was so great. His leg would not function. London’s The Guardian newspaper quoted him, “Everything I had worked for was finished. I hated everybody. I hated the world. I hated hamstrings. I hated it all. I felt so bitter that I was injured again. I told myself I had to finish. I kept hopping round. Then, with 100 metres to go, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was my old man.”

Derek hopped on one leg for half a lap before his father came to his aid. Together they finished the race arm-in-arm to a standing ovation. Now, some 17 years after the race, not many people remember who won that semi-final race or who even won the final. But, many still remember Derek Redmond.

ENJOY THIS VIDEO:

30 second Visa Commercial capturing the event (Is there a better voice in the business than Morgan Freeman’s?):

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Square (Derek & Dad walking) photo credit: Gray Mortimore /Allsport

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