We’re Going to Finish This Together
How Derek Redmond’s last -finish inspired the world.
I became a dad just hours before the 2016 Olympics.
While sitting in a hospital chair made for dads, I held my tiny, wonderful, sleeping daughter and watched as athletes from 207 countries walked into Maracanã Stadium during the Opening Ceremony, ready to compete in the Summer Olympics.
My daughter couldn’t have made her arrival at a better time.
Over the next two weeks, my wife and I stayed home with our daughter, simply getting acclimated to life as parents.
There wasn’t a whole lot we could do outside the house — plus, with the 100-degree weather in the forecast, it’s not like we would have wanted to.
Our decision was made.
I guess we’d stay inside with our baby and watch all the Olympic events!
Our family after the birth of our first daughter
I’ve been a huge fan of the Olympics since I was little. Prior to the 1996 Olympic games, I spent a week in Atlanta. Seeing the Olympic rings all over the city was transformational.
I was young, but understanding that athletes from across the globe would soon be traveling to Atlanta to compete for gold medals put the power of sports in perspective.
People dedicate their lives to these games. The sacrifice, tears, dedication, and support needed to even qualify for the games, let alone earn a medal, is inspiring — and I’m not just talking about the athletes.
While I love watching the athletes, give me a parent-child story about how they made it to the games, and I’ll be a puddle of water.
From former Olympians watching their kids compete to parents who’ve left their homes for the first time to see their kids run, every story centered around a parent-child relationship makes me root for them that much more.
As a dad, there is nothing on earth I want to see more than my kids succeeding in something they care deeply about. As an athlete, I know that history comes down to fractions, decimals, and thousandths of seconds.
You can be the best of the best, but the simplest mistake on a routine movement you’ve made for twenty years can be the difference between putting your name in the record books or regrets.
When competing, you can often live with the results, even the unfavorable ones. But when watching your child turn their first steps into competing for an Olympic gold medal, it’s almost too hard to watch as one has zero control over the situation. A parent wants it for them so badly.
Talk about the sweet, sweet agony of parenting.
In 1992, Great Britain’s 400-meter runner Derek Redmond had a chance to compete in one of the sport’s greatest comebacks. Having torn his Achilles tendon before his opening-round heat in the 1988 Olympics, Redmond had undergone five surgeries up to that point. After running the fastest time in his quarterfinal heat, Redmond was ready to move to the semifinals.
During his semifinal heat, Redmond took off, looking great from the get-go. However, about 150 meters into his race, he winced and grabbed the back of his right thigh.
A torn hamstring—devastating on multiple fronts.
Redmond paused and fell to the track, coming to terms with his Olympic defeat, but within seconds, he got up and limped his way through the race.
He had no chance to win, but you could see in his eyes that he was determined to finish the race. Not to mention, Redmond’s limp on a torn hamstring was still far faster than 99% of the population.
Redmond grimaced in pain as he moved around the track, gritting his teeth and straining his neck. As a viewer, it was agonizing to watch. You wished someone would come to his rescue, pick him up, and help him across the finish line.
Well, with about 100 meters to go in his race, Derek’s father, Jim Redmond, did just that.
In the video, viewers can see a man in a blue hat and white shirt running onto the track. Understandably, security guards in green pants are seen physically trying to stop him, but I’d imagine Jim said something like,“That’s my son, and he needs me.”
Unaware, Derek continues to run his race, fighting through the pain while trying to keep it together. Then he feels a hand on his right shoulder, another hand in his left hand, and as he turns his head with 100 meters to go.
Derek sees his father’s eyes and loses it, sobbing uncontrollably onto his shoulders. Derek covers his face as his father holds him up, carrying him slowly down the track during the biggest moment of his career.
As the father and son make their way to the finish line, another security guard approaches the two, likely saying the dad can’t be there. In a look that any parent can feel, Jim Redmond turns to the man and waves him off. There isn’t a person on earth who would take him away from his son.
Jim patted Derek’s back, showing him they were almost at the finish line, and as more security guards came to whisk them off the track, Jim shook his head and waved them away again.
As Derek crossed the finish line, Jim raised his hand in celebration and patted his son on the chest, as to say,“You did it, son. You finished.”
The two walked off the track together, father and son.
This 400-meter semifinal moment has become one of the most inspirational moments in Olympic history. So much so that when London hosted the Olympic games twenty years later, Derek Redmond was asked to be a torchbearer.
When interviewed about this moment, Jim said, “I saw my (son) having a problem and it was my duty to help,” he told CBS News in 2012. “I actually went on the track to try to stop him inflicting further damage to himself. It was Derek’s idea. … He asked me to get him back in that lane and I offered him a shoulder to lean on.”
As an Olympian, Derek was determined. A torn hamstring wasn’t going to stop him from finishing what he started.
“(My dad) was telling me that I had nothing to prove and that I didn’t need to do this, but I told him I was going to finish.”
A father running to support his son. A son determined to finish strong. The Olympics are filled with people who’ve trained their entire lives to get to this moment; giving up is not in their DNA.
While Derek was concerned for his son’s health, after seeing his determination and having spent a lifetime raising him, there was really only one response.
“Well, then, we’re going to finish this together.”