Category: Inspiring Story

Ikon sukan rowing di peringkat antarabangsa bagi pasukan GB yang selalu dikenali adalah Sir Steven Redgrave & Matthew Pinset. Ini kerana pencapaian luar biasa Sir Steven Redgrave yang bertahan selama 5 musim olimpik sehingga diiktiraf sebagai lagenda yang masih hidup. Begitu juga dengan Matthew Pinset. Pasukan yang digeruni pihak lawan kerana penguasaannya dalam coxless four dan coxless pair. Namun jarang kita mahu ambil tahu siapa lagi krew di dalam pasukan coxless four Great Britain.

Faktor penguasaan GB dalam coxless four adalah adanya krew seperti Sir Steven Redgrave yang bertindak sebagai pemangkin pembentukan krew. Krew yang berpengalaman dan kuat banyak membantu jurulatih GB memantapkan koordinasi dan penyelarasan latihan mahupun kekuatan. Ketika Sir Steven Redgrave bersara, tugasnya di galas oleh Matthew Pinset dalam mempertahankan penguasaan GB. Seterusnya, dengan persaraan Matther, tinggal Steve William merupakan satu-satunya krew coxless four yang masih kekal. Seperti sebelumnya, Steve William menjadi tumpuan pasukannya dalam pembentukan coxless four yang baru. Beliau menjadi rujukan utama dalam pembangunan pasukan tersebut.

Baru-baru ini dalam artikel berita yang dipetik dari http://www.worldrowing.com/, Steve William menyuarakan hasrat untuk bersara dari pasukan kebangsaan. Perjalanan kariernya bukan mudah apabila pasukan coxless four yang dianggotainya melalui liku-liku sukar setelah gagal mempertahankan kejuaraan di Kejohanan Dunia (World Rowing Championship) pada 2007 yang berlansung serentak dengan pemilihan sukan Olimpik. Pasukan beliau hanya mendapat tempat keempat. Tidak berada di tempat teratas sepertimana tradisinya memberi tamparan hebat kepada pasukannya. Begitu juga tahun seterusnya 2008 dengan cabaran Sukan Olimpik Beijing yang semakin hampir ditempuhi dengan sukar. Namun, ketika di Beijing mereka berazam tiada ruang untuk kesilapan. Berada di belakang krew pasukan Australia di sepanjang perlumbaan peringkat akhir, krew Steve Wiliam mengerah seluruh tenaga. Hanya di kedudukan 250m sebelum perlumbaan berakhir, pasukannya berjaya menggandakan kuasa dayungan bagi mendahului perlumbaan sekaligus merangkul pingat emas.

William mengakhiri karier 11 tahun bersama sukan rowing dengan empat kejuaraan dunia dan dua kejuaraan Olimpik. Beliau merancang menjadi penceramah motivasi selepas persaraannya. Begitupun, beliau telah kerapkali dijemput memberikan ceramah di seminar korporat dengan tema yang sudah terkenal,‘winning in tough times, leading in tough times’.

Antara anugerah yang mengiktiraf kejayaan beliau adalah:

1. OBE ( Order of the British Empire ) – 2008 Olympic champion 2008 in M4-
2. FISA Male Crew of the Year – 2004 Olympic Champion 2004 in M4-
3. MBE ( Member of the British Empire ) – 2004 Olympic champion 2004 in M4-

Biografi dan pencapaian beliau boleh di lihat di sini Perhatikan catatan masa yang direkodkan.

Komen moderator: Sebagai atlet mahupun jurulatih, kita memerlukan dorongan dan juga inspirasi. Sekerap mungkin kita perlu mengingatkan diri akan kegigihan dan kepayahan atlet-atlet terdahulu daripada kita. Cerita-cerita mereka ini wajar diteliti dan menjadi pengajaran.

Larry Lemieux

During the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Canadian Larry Lemieux was headed for what looked like a certain medal. But when he saw two men in trouble from Singapore that had capsized in turbulent waves that day, he took action.

Lemieux went off course and saved the lives of those two men, but in the process, he forfeited an almost certain medal.

His bravery was not unappreciated. IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch presented Lemieux with a porcelain award adorned with the Olympic insignia soon after the games

Wilma Glodean Rudolph

Wilma Glodean Rudolph should not have been an Olympian. Born prematurely, as she grew up, Rudolph was struck with scarlet fever, double pneumonia and eventually contracted polio. In order to receive treatment, Rudolph’s mother had to take her to a black hospital more than 50 miles away.

Showing off her glory, Wilma Rudolph

Rudolph went on to set Olympic records in track and field that still stand today.

Immortalized on stampShe was a product of the pre-Title IX era, literally having to make her way through sports with perseverance and determination beyond the norm.

Her work paid off, she became the first US woman to win three gold medals in the track and field events. Rudolph arose out of the 1960 Rome Olympics and earned herself the nickname, “The Tennessee Tornado,” aka, the fastest woman on earth.

She holds the world record in the 100 meter and 200 meter races.

By the age of 12, Rudolph had put her disabilities behind her and started her dream of Olympic immortality.

At 16, she earned a ticket on the 1956 Olympic team and came home with a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter relay.

But it is for 1960 that she is most remembered.

Her inspiration for those Olympics was the one and only, Jesse Owens. Who sits ahead on our tribute.

More: find here Olympic stories of inspiration

by joe eskenazi
staff writer

When Aerial Gilbert first learned to row, her college coaches often advised her to close her eyes, shut out the distractions of the outside world and soak in the feel of the boat. She never could have realized how important the advice would turn out to be. Decades later, when a bottle of tainted eyedrops robbed Gilbert of her sight in 1988, it changed every aspect of her life. But one. “Being blind, you’re on an equal playing field in the boat as a sighted person. You’re rowing backwards, anyway,” said Gilbert, the director of volunteers at Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael. “As long as you have someone to guide the boat down the river, you’re on an equal field.”
Come Sunday, March 28, Gilbert will be inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame on eastern Long Island, N.Y., where a plaque in her name will be on permanent display. Gilbert was nominated for the honor by a fellow U.S. national team rower.
Rowing has been a huge part of her life ever since she was first transfixed by the awesome power and effortless synchronicity of sculls gliding across the surface of the water. But, following her accident — which police believe was the result of a disgruntled factory worker filling the eyedrop bottle Gilbert would eventually buy with lye — rowing has become the 49-year-old’s catharsis and refuge.
The sudden, painful blinding left Gilbert, a busy pediatric nurse and an athlete since age 2, unable to even walk safely around her own house. “The first six months, I didn’t handle it well. I didn’t go anywhere or do anything. But a friend from the boathouse said, ‘I’m taking you out rowing. You don’t have to see in order to row; we’ll take out a double,’” recalled Gilbert, who lives in Petaluma and now rows in two- and four-person boats. “It was like getting onto a bike after you learned how to ride when you were a kid. It was instantaneous. There were no problems. I just jumped in the boat and started rowing. Getting into the boat and moving through the world feeling strong and safe was an amazing opportunity for me. … I have to say, between rowing and getting my guide dog, those were the pivotal factors that allowed me to put my life together.” Gilbert immediately laid her own doubts to rest, but the rest of the world took some convincing. More than a few boathouse owners were reluctant to allow a blind rower out
onto the waves for fear she would run into something and ruin the expensive boat. They sang a different tune, however, once they saw her out on the water. That’s not to say there haven’t been dicey moments out there.
While competing in a race in the last Petaluma River Regatta, a stray eight-man boat crossed Gilbert’s path. She was smacked across the back by an oar and propelled into the water. Gilbert had the wind knocked out of her, but quickly found her way back into the boat, kept rowing, and her two-person boat finished second in the race. In addition to rowing in Master’s Division tournaments, Gilbert has helped to start up an “adaptive division” U.S. national team boat, featuring a pair of blind rowers and a pair of above-the-knee amputees. Competing in the 2002 World Rowing Championships in Milan, Gilbert’s adaptive boat took home the bronze medal.
Her inauguration in the Sports Hall of Fame — yes, she says with a laugh, there is such a thing — is a double victory. Not only is it a win for disabled athletes, it’s also a big step for an athlete in a non-major sport.
But Gilbert’s biggest thrill will come when more young people hop into boats and prove that blindness may be a disability, but it’s no handicap. “There are sports where blind kids can participate with other blind kids, but there are no other sports where blind youth can participate equally with sighted kids,” she said. “Since I’ve lost my sight, rowing is the only time during my waking hours when I can forget I’m blind. Other times, I’m really aware of it. But I put all my power into it and I don’t have to worry about running into everything. I can just row.”

CopyrightJ, the News Weekly of Northern California
Rowing Canada Aviron