There’s been a lot to unpack from this year’s Olympics, but many people reckon it doesn’t get any better than what happened more than 20 years ago, as one athlete’s devastating injury turned into one of the most beautiful moments on the track.
Derek Redmond is a retired British sprinter, who won gold medals in the 4x400m relay at the World Championships and European Championships.
His Olympics legacy, however, has sadly been less fortunate, in spite of his clear sporting prowess.
In 1988 at the Seoul Olympics, he was forced to withdraw from the opening heat of the 400m race just two minutes before the race was scheduled to begin, thanks to an injury to his Achilles tendon.
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Fast forward to four years later, when the Olympics moved to Barcelona and Redmond had undergone five operations to try and ease his injuries.
One of the procedures had taken place less than four months before the games began, but he’d managed to get in a good position for the 1992 games.
According to the official Olympics website, Redmond was ‘running well’ and had even recorded the fastest time of the first round, also winning his quarter-final heat to make it through to the semi-finals.
However, about 150m into that race, tragedy struck when his hamstring muscle tore, sending him crashing to the ground in pain.
As the stretcher-bearers rushed over to help him, Redmond was adamant that he wanted to finish the race, jumping up and hobbling towards the finish line slowly, obviously struggling.
It was at that moment that his father Jim leapt out of the stands and ran onto the track to help his son.
Hand in hand, the pair ran together, with Redmond sobbing as they continued.
Just before they made it to the end, his dad let go and allowed the athlete to finish the race on his own – as the crowd of 65,000 got to their feet in a standing ovation.
Sadly, Remond was disqualified from the race after being assisted, but the moment itself made history.
“This will forever be one of the most beautiful moments in Olympic history,” X account Historic Vids said as it posted the video earlier this week.
Someone commented: “A proud father I must say for his son didn't give up and decided to finish what he had started, despite his immense pain. What a mindset!”
Another agreed: “Love how the father essentially tells the other guys to leave him alone so he can care for his son. He understood how much effort his son put into this moment, and getting injured must be incredibly tough for him.”
A third wrote: “Gets me every time man, he is an absolute champion.”
Jess Hardiman