Have you heard of the Olympic runner who was given the title, ‘The Greatest Last Place Finish in Modern Olympics’? Here is his touching story.
The world has witnessed thirty Modern Olympic Games so far since April 6,1896. Its motto, Citius, Altius, Fortius (Latin for ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’) has challenged the world’s best athletes to compete against one another for Gold, Silver and Bronze. Records are broken. New Champions emerge. Higher highs and faster speeds are set.
Among the thousands that have braved the stiff challenge of ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’, few have really made a difference on the Olympiad stage. Marathon runner John Stephen Akhwari from Tanzania was one who did. At the Mexico Olympic Games on October 20, 1968, he left a legacy that gave him the title, ‘The Greatest Last Place Finish in Modern Olympics’!
Seventy-four athletes took part in the gruelling forty-two-kilometre marathon race, the final event of the Mexico Olympiad. Only fifty-seven of them finished the race. Seventeen did not cross the finish line. John Stephen Akhwari didn’t want to be remembered as the eighteenth. Less than half way through the race, running in high altitude conditions with the glaring sun on his back, he stumbled at the nineteen-kilometre mark. The fall resulted in a badly dislocated right knee and several injuries on his head and shoulders.
The pain was excruciating. He still had twenty-three kilometres ahead of him. Exiting the Marathon was never on his mind. He received medical attention while runners passed him by. He was Africa’s Marathon Champion and his gaze was on the finish line, no matter how far! The rest is history. He limped, he staggered, he crawled, he jogged. Inch by inch, step by step, he arrived at the stadium an hour and five minutes after Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia crossed the finishing line. The games were literally over, the awards given out, the Olympic Flag lowered, but John Stephen Akhwari kept to the course. The few remaining spectators and television crew clapped their hands as he entered the stadium. All along the race, he was asked on several occasions to quit. He kept going. Finally, when he was asked why he didn’t quit, he candidly replied, “My country didn’t send me 5000 miles to start the race; my country sent me 5000 miles to finish the race!”
Today, nearly half a century later, John Stephen is known as the ‘Father of the Spirit of the Modern Games.’ The title, ‘Greatest Last Place Finish’ was worth every ounce of pain.
In a world surrounded by too many quitters, the life of John Stephen challenges us to never give up. The sands of time have gifted us another year. The new year 2018 is here for us. We have 365 days to complete the race we have begun. Like many in the past, quitting is an option we often encounter. The race is not about competing with others, it’s about bringing the best in each one of us. Problems are only disguised opportunities. Every minute is a valuable sixty-seconds-pack with infinite possibilities. But somehow, though surrounded by infinite possibilities, we restrict the circle of our life. How do I make the most of this year 2018? Here are some simple ways:
Six Life Skills to Finish Better:
- Slow Down, don’t Speed Up:
We are created as human beings—not as Ferrari speed cars. Our pace in life is rhythmic, though not always smooth. It was never meant to be a hurried routine. Somehow, many of us are constantly in a hurry. We seem to have in our DNA a ‘perpetually-late-syndrome’ that tries to catch up on lost time. Velocity more than direction can become the norm of life. How far we go seems more important than where we arrive. We lose sight of our goal when we set our gaze only on the clock. At the start of the New Year, let your first resolution be to reconstruct your broken compass. Being on the right track, even if you are the ‘greatest last place finish’ is better than being first on the wrong track. Gold medals are never awarded on the wrong track!
- Celebrate Life; don’t just Survive it:
Caught in the web of daily struggles, we sadly journey through life on ‘Survival mode.’ We dread another day. We wish the sun set earlier and night cover us in darkness. Twenty-four hours is a long wait on our bed of pain and misery. And yet, we feel content and comfortable in our survival mode. We were never created for mere survival. “Get up and Walk” is the call for the New Year 2018. Celebrate Life is all its fulness. It is so sad to see young people display their Facebook status as ‘saaaad’, ‘booooooring’, ‘lifeleeeeess’, ‘anooooyed.’ The list goes on and on. Start the year by changing the status of your life to something positive and celebrative.
- World as Home, not as Battle Field:
Battle fields smell of blood, and are defaced with broken bodies. Home is scented by love, friendship, acceptance and forgiveness. Battle fields are high combat zones, where there is no place for error and forgiveness. Competition rules the terrain. The best and strongest survive; the weak are eliminated. When we view the world as a ‘battle ground,’ we are all losers’; we eliminate ourselves. Religion, politics, economics and cultural platforms are our new battlegrounds. We need to see the world through the ‘prism of home.’ Home unites us, home is where we all belong as family. Can this be your new resolution for 2018?
- Being First is not the Reward:
In Mitch Albom’s famous book, Tuesdays with Morrie, we discover the richness of ‘being second.’ In his conversations with his favourite professor, who is now dying, Mitch recalls a basketball game in 1979 in the Brandeis University stadium. His team is doing extremely well and they all chant in unison, “We’re number one!” Their celebrations are interrupted when Professor Morrie stands up and shouts, “What’s wrong with being number two?” We have been educated to believing that ‘being number two’ is being a loser! In life, being first is never the reward. Being Yourself is the greater achievement. How about this as your resolution for 2018?
- Your Timeline is Your Lifeline:
The best way to make the most of life is to invest your time wisely. Reflect for a moment how you spent your 2017. Was it a wasted year or an invested year? It is not going to come back. You can never have 2017 again. All your influence and money and power will never bring it back. It is gone—and gone forever. But, how you invested your 2017 will find its fruits in 2018. Learn the art of thin-slicing your year, your month, your day. A day with twenty-four hours is a gift given equally to all. Start now. Don’t procrastinate your investment in time. Every second counts, every day matters, every month is special and every year is a blessing. Make your timeline an important lifeline in your journey. This is a resolution easy to preach about, but difficult to practice. Give it a shot—your best shot in fact!
- Live your Now in the Hope of Eternity:
One day, the heart will stop beating. Death stares us in the face. The earth will engulf us. Was it worth it, after all? Remember the words of the famous song, ‘This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through’? Have something higher to live for, something more significant to make of your life. We are made for Eternity—to spend the rest of our life with an incredibly loving and good God. Living our Now in the Hope of Eternity is a mantra worth remembering this 2018!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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