This week hometown native, Mondo Duplantis, as expected, won the Gold Medal at the Paris Olympic Games setting an Olympic record. He then continued vaulting aiming to break the world record which he already held. On his third and last vault he cleared the bar.
Mondo is undoubtedly the best at his craft in the world. Seeing him hug his family, teammates, competitors, and coaches, I felt and understood his acknowledgment that the height of his remarkable accomplishment was made possible by standing on the shoulders of those he now hugged; those who lifted him up throughout his life aiding him in his journey toward the attainment of his dream. It reminded me of speech that Bob Richards, w the only other two-time Olympic pole-vaulting Gold Medal winner who won the Gold at the 1950 and 1954 Olympic Games.
In his later years, Richards became become the featured sports star that graced the Wheaties cereal box and, later in life, became a popular global motivational speaker. The following is an excerpt from one of his addresses:
“There are many people who could be Olympic Champions, All-Americans who have never tried. I’d estimate five million people could have beaten me in the pole vault the years I won it, at least five million. Men that were stronger, bigger and faster than I was could have done it, but they never picked up a pole, never made the feeble effort to pick their legs off the ground trying to get over the bar.
Greatness is all around us! It’s easy to be great because great people will help you. What is fantastic about all the conventions I go to is that the greatest in the business will come and share their ideas, their methods and their techniques with everyone else. I have seen the greatest salesmen open up and show young salesmen exactly how they did it. They don’t hold back. I have also found that true in the world of sports.
I’ll never forget the time I was trying to break Dutch Warmerdam’s record. I was about a foot below his record, so I called him on the phone. I said, ‘Dutch, can you help me? I’ve seemed to level off; I can’t get any higher.’ He said, ‘Sure, Bob, come on up and visit me and I’ll give you all I’ve got.’ I spent three days with the master, the greatest pole vaulter in the world. For three days, Dutch gave me everything he’d seen. There were things that I was doing wrong, and he corrected them. To make a long story short, I went up eight inches. That great guy gave me the best that he had. I’ve found that sports champions and heroes willingly do this just to help you become great.
John Wooden has a philosophy that every day he is supposed to help someone who can never reciprocate; that’s his obligation.
When in college working on his Master’s Thesis on scouting and defensive football, George wrote up a 30-page survey and sent it out to the great coaches in the country. Eighty-five percent answered it completely.
Great people will share, and that is what made George Allen one of the greatest football coaches in the world. Great people will tell you their secrets. Look for them, call them. Its is easy to be great when you get around great people.”
Example teaches better than precept. It is the best modeler of character of men and women. To set a lofty example is the richest bequest we can leave behind us. –S Smiles, American Writer
Have an AWE-full Weekend!
William “Bill” Bacque