Some years ago, sports enthusiasts around the world had their eyes on a young pole-vaulter from Texas named Billy Olsen. At the age of 19, he had already set the world indoor record and it was predicted that he would easily bring home the gold medal in the 1980 Olympics.In 1979, Olsen suffered an injury at the tryout and did not even make the team. Down but not defeated, he began looking instead to 1984. A few months later, however, he took a bad fall and broke his wrist.
Doctors said he would probably never vault again. Still, Billy did not give up. In 1984 he was jumping high but not well enough to make the team.
So, once again, he set his sights on the next time around. In 1986, he broke the world record four times. 1988 was surely going to be Billy Olsen’s year. This time, he qualified but, to everyone’s surprise, he did not jump well. He never won a medal.
Billy may have never reached his goal but, in my mind, he will always be a winner, simply because he had the guts and the heart to stay with it, no matter how many obstacles blocked his path.
Striving for a goal is a worthy end in itself. By pursuing a dream, we push ourselves to do better and to be better. And even if we never realise that dream, we have the satisfaction of knowing that we gave it our best shot, and that beats sitting on the sidelines.
From TODAY, Voices - Monday, 30-Aug-2010
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