Today, I am going to share three inspirations stories of Olympians who have become winner in spite of losing the game.
2. Reuben Gonzales was playing the world title. The world was watching. In the final game, at match point, Gonzales played a super shot. The referee and the linesman both confirmed that the shot was good and he was declared the winner. But Gonzales hesitated and after a little pause, he went to his opponent and said, "The shot was faulty, let's play again." The service changed and he lost the match. Everyone was stunned. Who could imagine that a player with everything officially in favor, with winning in his pocket, would disqualify himself and lose. When asked why he did it, Gonzales replied, "It was the only thing to do in order to maintain my integrity." In other words, he was saying that, If I took the medal and came home and saw it every day, it would not be a reminder of my victory, but a permanent reminder of my dishonesty." What was Gonzales saying in unsaid words? I would rather deserve a medal and not have it, than to have it and not deserve it. He lost the match, yet he was a winner.
3. In the 1968 Olympic Marathon in Mexico city, John Stephen Akhwari was competing in the forty-two km race. Accidently, he got hit. He hurt his knees badly and dislocated some joints at the nineteenth kilometer point. He could have quit the race at that point, but in spite of severe pain, he continued running and eventually finished last amongst fifty-seven competitors who completed the race out of seventy-five. He ran approximately three and a half hours even when the crowd had dispersed and it was after sunset. The winner of the Marathon was someone else. When the medals were being awarded, the television crew came to know that there was one person who was still running and was about to finish the race. As he finally crossed the finish line, the remaining people cheered him and when asked by the television crew why he had continued running, 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." What a spirit!
What can we learn??
These stories inspire us to redefine success beyond mere triumphs or titles. They remind us that genuine victory lies in acts of courage, integrity, and perseverance. Whether on the grand stage of the Olympics or in the daily arenas of our lives, these principles guide us to strive for excellence with honor, to persist in the face of adversity, and to always uphold the true spirit of sportsmanship. As we celebrate these remarkable individuals, we are reminded that their legacies are not just about what they achieved, but how they chose to achieve it—with grace, dignity, and unwavering integrity.
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