Tour de Courage
"On July 25, 1999, when cyclist Lance Armstrong zoomed across the finish line of the 21-day, 2,289-mile Tour de France, it was one big win for man, one giant victory for humanity.
"Armstrong, 28, had not only beaten 6-to-1 odds to place first in the grueling race; he had triumphed over testicular cancer, having been given just a 40 percent chance of survival three years earlier."
Attacking the cancer like the fierce competitor he is, Armstrong opted for immediate surgery followed by a brutal battery of chemotherapy treatments.
"What he held on to was this core belief that he was simply going to beat it, to win, to succeed," says wife Kristin, 28. "When he's in that mind-set, he just can't be stopped."
"Startling his doctors and the cycling community, Armstrong made enormous strides during the summer and fall of 1998, culminating with wins in the Tour of Luxembourg and the Cascade Classic.... The awards and recognition followed, with his selection as U.S. Cyclist of the year by VeloNews magazine and as a finalist for the Comeback Player of the Year by the ESPN network."
Lance Armstrong will not only be remembered as one of the best cyclists of all time, he will also be remembered as one of the most courageous.
A favorite story about getting through with a task features Shun Fujimoto. Shun was poised on the flying rings as one of the greatest gymnasts in the world. He knew he was great because he was a member of the Japanese Olympic gymnastics team that was within grasping distance of a gold medal. Shun knew that he had trained for the better part of his young life for this moment and he knew that his teammates needed him.
He also knew he was wearing a cast on his right leg from a fracture he had sustained just the day before. Could he carry that extra unbalancing weight through his flying, soaring, twisting routine on the rings?
It would be a superhuman physical feat it he did. Waiting at the end would be not only cheers, applause, and perhaps a gold medal, but also waiting would be edge-cutting, mind-numbing, knife-stabbing pain through his whole body because the cast on his leg would surely collapse. Could he get through the bad stuff to the good stuff waiting beyond? He decided to try.
He not only had to perform with a cast, but he had to achieve a score of 9.5 out of 10.0 in order to do his part towards winning the team gold medal.
Shun Fujimoto performed the aerial ballet on the rings faultlessly. The crowd and the judges were amazed and enthralled. As he finished his routine, he sailed off the rings, did a double twisting, triple somersault, and landed like an arrow embedded in its target. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he stood ramrod straight, the sign that he had finished his routine. He then collapsed and his teammates carried him, his shattered cast, and his broken leg off the floor. Later Shun said, "The pain shot through me like a knife. It brought tears to my eyes. But now I have a gold medal and the pain is gone."
From "The Missing Link" by Dan Clark C.1986
I first met Davey Crockett my first night on the job when the team reported for conditioning prior to the 1974 football season. He wondered if I was "The Man." I said I was and he said, "Good. I'm Davey Crockett. Glad to meet you."
I remember thinking to my self that if his name is really Davey Crockett, he has to be tough to carry that name. David was an All State Defensive Tackle as a Junior who had a tremendous desire to be a fullback. He begged for a chance. I said that he could try out for whatever position he wanted, but would play where he would most help the team. He worked hard and earned the starting fullback position.
During the first game after gaining 75 yards rushing and catching a pass or two, David broke his leg while trying to stay inbounds on a sideline run. He was devastated. The Doctors said it was such a bad break that he was done for the year which, in essence, meant forever.
David vowed he would be back to play the arch rival in the 8th game of the season. No one, including me believed him.
David was a terrible sight around school, practice and most of all during the games. Not playing was slowly killing him, eating away from the inside out. He kept vowing that he was going to play in that 8th game. None of us could see how he was going to make it.
Five weeks after he broke his leg, David came to school without a cast on his leg. We asked what happened. He said, "If I'm going to play in that game, I can't have that cast on my leg. I can't get ready with it. So I went out to the barn, got down the pruning shears and cut the cast off." That week he limped around the practice field.
The next week he sort of jogged around the field. We knew he would never be able to play fullback again, but maybe there was hope for him to play defensive tackle.
Of course, the school officials were extremely worried about David playing again. The doctors still wold not release him. They thought he was stupid. David got his parents and their lawyer to draw up a statement releasing everyone from liability, signed it and presented it to the administration.
Well to make a long story short, David played in that game and did a great job. His play inspired the defensive team to hold the other team scoreless. The game meant that the team would be Champions once again - only the second Championship the school had ever won. Just like Fujimoto, the pain has gone away, but David lives the rest of his life as a Champion.
This story is from one of our Championship Training S.E.T. For Success Class Journals.
Too Small (Hermann Maier)
Today, because of his size and power, Austrian ski legend Hermann Maier is known as "The Beast," "The Monster," "The Herminator." But at age 15, he was dropped by the Austrian national ski program because he was considered too small to compete.
For the next seven years, Maier worked as a bricklayer's apprentice and ski instructor, never giving up his dream of becoming a ski champion.
"In 1995, at the age of 22 and bigger and stronger after seven years of manual labor, Maier quit his job and tried once more to become a World Cup skier. He attracted enough attention on the Europa Cup circuit to earn three World Cup starts late in the 1995-96 season, finishing 11th in a giant slalom competition in Norway.."(1)
Later, at the Nagano Olympics, he would dramatically win two gold medals after almost being eliminated by injury. Recently, Maier broke into the record books again by becoming only the third man in history ever to win four World Cup ski titles in a single season.
There's always someone around to tell you that you're too small, too weak, too young or too old. The next time you hear these words, remember the story of Hermann Maier.
(1)http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/9/0,5716,135819+1,00.html
Michael Swenson loved to swim. In fact, every night after school he would go to the community pool and swim lap after lap - just for pure enjoyment. As time went on, Michael reached the age when he really needed some attention and recognition. And how do we get recognition? Usually by doing something we are good at doing. In Michael's case, he decided to enter a swimming meet. Ironically, the following day an ad appeared in the newspaper announcing a local swimming race. Michael entered and continued to practice. It was a ten mile race across a lake and with only four weeks to prepare. Michael intensified his workouts.
Race day finally came, and to Michael's astonishment, hundreds of contestants had entered. On top of this pressure, entire outlying communities of thousands of people showed up to cheer on their favorite contestant.
Instructions were given, the swimmers were lined up, and pow! The gun went off to start the race. Michael's preparation and hard work paid off. At the five mile mark he had a commanding lead. But then temptation struck. Fatigue turned Michael into a coward as he gave into negative thoughts such as, "What am I trying to prove?" "I can't make it." "I'll quit now, but learn from this so I can win the next time." As Michael fatigued, the second place swimmer started to make his move. he moved to within 100 yards of Michael at the eight mile mark. But Michael fought back. he was able to put the negative thoughts aside and push himself to greatness. He wanted this victory, this glory. At the nine mile mark, the second place swimmer was now only 30 yards behind Michael. Michael knew it and pushed and pulled even harder. But wouldn't you know it. With only five yards to go, the second place swimmer passed Michael and won the race. Both swimmers collapsed of total fatigue and laid down in the sand. Then something interesting happened. Sure all the spectators congratulated the winner of the race for his excellence, but immediately their attention turned to Michael. Why? Michael was confused. He didn't win. A lady who didn't see the race but was at the finish line also was confused. She couldn't see Michael but did know that he had only taken second. She tapped a man on the should and inquired, "Why are they making such a big deal out of him? He didn't win."
The man turned to her and replied, "Because Michael would have easily won had he had two arms!"
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