Things were going smooth for him before Redmond ran his semi-final race. With momentum on his side, Redmond started strong as he ran the first m before he abruptly stopped and fell on his knees on the track after pulling his hamstring. With his competitors way ahead of him, Redmond was motionless on the track with his hands over his face as he broke down. He knew his dream was over. Instead of waiting for the medical officials to take him off the track, Redmond gathered the courage to get up.
He started hobbling towards the finish line amid the pain of a torn hamstring, fighting back tears. As he limped, a figure emerged from the crowd and barged on to the track, despite the attempts of security officials. He reached out to Redmond. As we now know, it was his father Jim Redmond.
Then, with about m to go, I became aware of someone else on the track. The 65, spectators present at the Barcelona athletic stadium rose to their feet and gave Redmond a standing ovation for his determination to complete the race. In the m semi-final Derek went into the race amongst the favourites but as he passed the m mark he tore his hamstring. Determined to finish the race he hobbled to the finish line with the help of his father as a 65,strong crowd cheered him on.
This injury signalled an end to his athletics career, but, committed to not letting his injury keep him down, he has since played basketball for England and played rugby 7s.
He has worked with a wide range of high profile brands delivering his inspiring stories from the track in corporate environments.
Redmond travelled to two Olympics and both ended with injury-induced heartache, once in the most public circumstances. For all his ability as an athlete — and he was considered likely to win a medal in Barcelona — he will forever be remembered for tearfully completing his m semi-final using his father as a crutch.
His body never gave him the opportunity to redefine the way the world perceived him: two years after the Barcelona Games, following an 11th operation on his achilles tendon, his athletics career was over.
This was his last race of any significance. Redmond had missed the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh with a hamstring injury, and withdrew from the Seoul Olympics minutes before his first heat having failed to recover from tendinitis, having had two painkilling injections that morning in an effort to make it on to the track.
The following summer, still plagued by injuries, he came close to giving up sport altogether. What the world witnessed in was a man who had been continually brought low by injury simply refusing to submit yet again.
His body had given him some hope: in the first round Redmond had run his quickest m for four years. I got a really good start, which was unusual for me. I think I was the first to react to the pistol. My normal tactics were to get round the first bend and then put the burners on for 30m, accelerate hard. About three strides later I felt a pop. It was his hamstring. Redmond collapsed to the floor, clutching his leg. Most athletes would have been quietly carried off the track and towards medical attention, but as the Red Cross workers approached Redmond instead pushed himself back to his feet.
I really, really believed I could still qualify. Bizarrely, the reason Redmond first started limping around the track was a belief that if he limped fast enough he might still overtake four people and qualify for the final. All I can remember after that is telling the coach, Tony Hadley [not the lead singer in Spandau Ballet], to look after my camera. The next thing I knew, I was on the track. Jim told his son to stop, in case the injury might heal in time for him to compete in the relay.
Derek refused. Back in Barcelona, father and son batted away a succession of officials who tried and failed to convince them to clear the track. Jim, it turned out, was as much bouncer as buttress.
0コメント