[IMG]http://media.nbclosangeles.com/images/654*368/felix-sanchez-picture-track.jpg[/IMG]
Cliff Notes
- Dominican athlete breaks down after winning gold in the 400m hurdles
- Thousands take to Twitter to comment on the touching scene
- Sanchez first won the event at the Athens Olympics in 2004
- Found out his grandmother had died on the day of his heat in Beijing
As he stepped onto the podium the emotion finally got the better of him.
Felix Sanchez, who had just won gold in the Olympic 400m hurdles for the second time, sobbed throughout his country's national anthem, unable to restrain the flow of tears.
But this was not just an athlete overcome with joy at the fulfillment of an Olympic dream - it was the end of a tough four-year journey that began the day he failed to even make the final at Beijing.
There his hopes of defending the title he had won in Athens took a massive blow when news of the [rip] of his grandmother reached him on the day of his heat.
'I got news on the morning of the first round in Beijing that she had died,' he explained. 'That affected me. I cried the whole day.
'I ran but I ran badly and I made a promise that day that I would win a medal for her. It took me four years.' |
And he did it in style, winning the race in 47.63 seconds - the exact same time he ran when taking the title in Athens eight years ago.
And as light rain fell last night as he waited to receive his second Olympic gold, Sanchez said he had felt his grandmother Lillian was there with him in the stadium.
'It started to rain. It made me feel like she was crying tears of joy with me,' Sanchez, little over three weeks away from his 35th birthday, told a news conference.
'I've been emotional all week, thinking about her, thinking if I could win.' |
Sanchez had pinned a picture of his grandmother behind his race bib and ran with her name on his spikes.
'We got here and I pinned her picture under my bib so she could run close to my heart. I wrote her name - at least what I called her in Spanish - on my spikes.
'Just as a motivator and just as a reminder of how special she was to and how much this Games meant to me being how old I was.'
Unsurprisingly his blubbing performance on the podium did not go unnoticed on Twitter.
Sally Bercow, wife of the Commons Speaker John Bercow, tweeted: 'Loved Felix Sanchez sobbing as he got Gold. Stiff upper lip over-rated. It means a lot to him & he's not ashamed to show it :)'
British rowing hero Matthew Pinsent, who won gold at four Olympics, posted: 'One chance, one day. Totally life changing if you do it once never mind twice. Well done Felix Sanchez.'Sanchez's tears reminded viewers of some of Britain's very own Olympic champions, whose reactions to clinching gold earlier this week won fans' hearts.
Since 2004, Sanchez - who had dominated the event in the three years up to Athens - has had his career hit by injury. But he said he never lost hope of being the best again.
'I've had a lot of setbacks in the last eight years. I really wondered if I could come back.
'But I was dominant for so long. When you are so dominant you have a sense of confidence,' he said. |
Source
Trying to find video of yesterday ceremony, dude just broke down on the podium
By mrfreak76 - 08-07-2012, 09:28 AM - 
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