More Sport Stories
A paraplegic pal of mine, W Mitchell, was one of the people who inspired me to write CHASING GOLD. It was a labour of love. It took 12 years to research, collect and assemble the information about the inspirational people you will 'meet' in the the Book. Olympians are, perhaps, the most motivated people on earth. But the book is designed to help ever reader, irrespective of whether you are an athlete or not. We all have our 'bad days' and need someone to inspire and motivate us. W Mitchell's credo is "It's not what happens to you...it's what you do about it!" You'll meet him in the book. So, now it's up to you.
If you haven't already ordered CHASING GOLD you can do so by clicking here. Then you will have 96 incredible athletes and their stories to help you be the best YOU you can ever be and dream and achieve things you never ever thought possible. Good luck on your journey. Click here to read what people from around Australia and around the World have said about CHASING GOLD.
I invite you to re-live some wonderful moments from the Paris 2024
Click here for Céline Dion's magnificent performance of Hymne A L'Amour at opening of the 2024 Olympic Games. And here are the words and translation to English:
Le ciel bleu sur nous peut s'effondrer
(The blue sky over us may fall)
Et la Terre peut bien s'écrouler
(And the Earth may well collapse)
Peu m'importe si tu m'aimes
(I don't care if you love me)
Je me fous du monde entier
(I do not care)
Tant qu'l'amour innondera mes matins
(As long as love floods my mornings)
Tant qu'mon corps frémira sous tes mains
(As long as my body quivers under your hands)
Peu m'importe les problèmes
(I don't care about the problems)
Mon amour, puisque tu m'aimes
(My love, since you love me)
J'irais jusqu'au bout du monde
(I would go to the ends of the world)
Je me ferais teindre en blonde
(I would get dyed blonde)
Si tu me le demandais
(If you asked me)
J'irais décrocher la Lune
(I would go and get the moon)
J'irais voler la fortune
(I would go and steal the fortune)
Si tu me le demandais
(If you asked me)
Je renierais ma patrie
(I would deny my homeland)
Je renierais mes amis
I would deny my friends
Si tu me le demandais
(If you asked me)
On peut bien rire de moi
(You can laugh at me)
Je ferais n'importe quoi
(I would do anything)
Si tu me le demandais
(If you asked me)
Si un jour, la vie t'arrache à moi
(If one day life tears you away from me)
Si tu meurs, que tu sois loin de moi
(If you die, may you be far from me)
Peu m'importe si tu m'aimes
(I don't care if you love me)
Car moi je mourrais aussi
(Because I would die too)
Nous aurons pour nous l'éternité
(We will have eternity for us)
Dans le bleu de toute l'immensité
(In the blue of all the immensity)
Dans le ciel, plus de problème
(In the sky, no more problems)
Mon amour, crois-tu qu'on s'aime?
(My love, do you think we love each other?)
Dieu réunit ceux qui s'aiment.
(God unites those who love).
Top 10 Hilarious Viral Moments from the Paris Olympics 2024: Click here to watch Mojo's picks for the funniest and most memorable moments from the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
10 Controversies of the Paris Olympics: Click here to watch Mojo's picks for the concerns, conflicts, and controversies that occurred at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Australia notches its best ever gold tally in Olympic history: Click here to see an ABC report about Australia's performance at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Paris 2024: Watch the opening ceremony's unforgettable moments.
From Le Monde: Twelve tableaux, illustrating ideals like freedom, sorority, and festivity, were performed throughout the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday evening, July 26, amid the traditional parade of Olympic delegations. In nearly a hundred boats, the 206 countries taking part in the Games paraded down the Seine in an outdoor ceremony that was the first of its kind, unhindered except for a steady downpour. Click here to see the opening ceremony of what many people believe to be the best ever opening.
Enjoy the book and enjoy these additional Olympic stories.
Biggest upset in running history: Emil Zátopek was responsible for this. It happened in Men's Marathon in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Click here to learn more about this incredible athlete from Czechoslovakia.
OLYMPIC TRAGEDY – Derek Redmond - His goal shattered at 1992 Olympics
OLYMPIC TRIUMPH – Derek Redmond – How to reset your goals
How fast are ‘long distance’ runners? In her final Olympic preparation, UK athlete Keeley Hodgkinson ran in the London Diamond League. She clocked 1min 54.61sec– the fastest 800m anywhere in the world since Caster Semenya in 2018.
In a London Gym, BBC Sport challenged regular Gym goers to ‘keep up’ with Keely Hodgkinson's 800m pace on a treadmill. (With Keeley watching!) Click on this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fllYaaBTXA or search YouTube for “Could you keep up with Keely Hodgkinson's 800m pace?”
Bobby stopped for ducks: In the Amsterdam Olympics of 1928, Australian sculler Bobby Pearce was leading in his quarter-final when the crowd on the Canal bank alerted him to a duck and her ducklings crossing the course directly in his path. He stopped rowing…but he still won the Gold Medal.
Whisky salesman wins: In 1930, after winning the Empire Games single sculls at Hamilton, Ontario, Bobby Pearce accepted an offer from Lord Dewar, the Scotch whisky tycoon, to become his Canadian sales representative. When Lord Dewar nominated Pearce for the Henley Regatta in England, as a lead-up to the 1932 Olympics, it was under the stated occupation of ‘whisky salesman’. Prior to this Bobby Pearce was a carpenter. But tradesman were not acceptable to the Henley Regatta committee. He went on to easily win the Diamond Sculls event and then Gold Medals in 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Wacky Sports? Some people have commented negatively on the new additions of of ‘Breaking’ and ‘Trampolining’ being added to the list of Sports for the Paris Olympics. Wacky? Not really. Consider some of the Sports of past years. Eg. Distance Plunging; Live Pigeon Shooting; Running Deer shooting; Long Jump for horses; Standing High Jump; Underwater swimming in the Seine; Obstacle Swim; Chorus Singing. Ummmmm.
Richard Norris Williams survived the Titanic's sinking in 1912, avoiding leg amputation by walking around and around the rescue ship - Carpathia. He won multiple tennis titles, including a mixed doubles gold at the 1924 Paris Olympics, the US National Championships in 1914 and 1916, and Wimbledon doubles titles in 1920, 1925, and 1926. He also served in WWI, earning the Légion d'Honneur and Croix de Guerre from the French Government. See: https://youtu.be/SEHaobHkN_M?si=37OWvCxv1KsW2CZ5
Greatest Aussie Olympian: Benny Elias, the legendary State of Origin Rugby League player, rates Peter Hadfield as one of the greatest sportsman Australia has ever produced. Why? Probably because Peter Hadfield was Australia’s Decathlon champion for 10 consecutive years beginning in 1976. As well, Hadfield represented Australia at two Olympic Games and two Commonwealth Games. Hadfield was 2nd to Daly Thompson in the Decathlon in the 1978 Commonwealth Games. Meet Peter Hadfield by searching YouTube for “Peter Hadfield Olympic Decathlete.” Or click on: https://youtu.be/slOUP53z8cw?si=1G4eoAu2N352EZjV
She had 21 surgeries: Before Paralympian Louise Sauvage was 10 years and 299 days she had 21 surgeries. She won 9 Gold and 4 Silver medals. As well as that she had 4 victories in the Boston Marathon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCWurIqxUy8
Kobe Bryant: Only one Olympian has won an Olympic gold medal and an Oscar. In 2008 American basketballer Kobe Bryant took home his first gold medal from the Beijing Summer Olympics. Four years before he would replicate the feat in 2012 during the London Games. In 2018, he won an Oscar for an animated short film he wrote and narrated: Dear Basketball. ( To watch simply search YouTube for: Dear Basketball.) It ultimately became a tribute to the life and legacy of the star who tragically lost his life in a helicopter accident in 2020. See: https://youtu.be/lUcdx4W8Xes?si=h7ka2CY62bvZQuNF
Shane retired at 16: After the 1972 Munich Olympics, Shane Gould famously retired at 16 years of age. due to the immense pressure and media scrutiny that she faced. She is the only person, male or female, to hold every world freestyle record from 100 metres to 1500 metres and the 200-metre individual medley world record simultaneously, which she did from 12/12/71 to 1/9/72. See: https://youtu.be/ogSPZBhp42E?si=QNTIsgvl4VOFIESk
Youngest Olympian: The youngest known Olympian is Dimitrios Loundras of Greece, who competed in gymnastics at the age of 10 in 1896. He competed in the Summer Olympics in Athens and won a bronze medal with his gymnastics team. See: https://youtu.be/uFjq6t4bDfY?si=Z1k-nSNUvVkjZk5E
Won Winter and Summer Medals: Eddie Eagan of the USA is the only person to win Gold in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. He won Gold in boxing at the 1920 in Antwerp and Gold in Bobsleigh racing in 1932 Lake Placid USA.
They boycotted the Games: The USA boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics in protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the USSR led a boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Games in response.
Gymnastics Legend: Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union held the record for most Olympic medals (18) for nearly half a century until Michael Phelps surpassed it in 2012 with a combined total of 28 medals. This included 8 Gold medals at the 2008 Bejing Olympics.
First Refugee Team: The 2016 Rio Olympics featured the first Refugee Olympic Team representing displaced athletes worldwide. 43 promising athletes were identified. Ten were ultimately selected.
"Thanks" General Choltitz: In 1944 General Choltotz was ordered, by Hitler, to destroy the Eiffel Tower. He disobeyed Hitler's orders and instead surrendered it to the Free French Forces on the 25/8/44. Choltitz later asserted that his defiance of Hitler's direct order stemmed from its obvious military futility, his affection for the French capital's history and culture, and his belief that Hitler had, by then, become insane.
Can 'sport' brings peace?
Baron Pierre De Coubertain, the Founder of the Modern Olympic Games, had a goal for sport to be a unifying power to stop wars and conflicts and bring peace to the world through sport. He wanted sport to be the the glue of friendship that would build connections that would stretch around the world.
After watching the North and South Korea teams competing against each other in the table tennis (see story above) perhaps The Baron's goal is still alive and well. Hence, I share these words with you. They were penned by American country and Western singer Ed McCurdy.
“Last night I had the strangest dream
I’ve never dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to War.”
“I dreamed I saw a mighty room
The room was full of men
And the paper they were signing said
They'd never fight again.”
“And when the signing was all done
And plans for peace were made
They all joined hands and bowed their heads
And silently they prayed.”
“And the people in the streets below
Rejoiced and danced round
And swords and guns and uniforms
Were scattered on the ground.”
“For now, at last, they understood
That Wars are never won
They all joined hands in brotherhood
A New World had begun.”
“Last night I had the strangest dream
I’ve never dreamed before
We all lived in a world of peace
And War was never more.”
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