72 - A Gathering of Champions

[sglowrider]

Fifty years after their Olympic victories in Munich...


https://olympics.com/en/original-series/episode/memory-lane-72-a-gathering-of-champions

 

[Carolina Red]

Hopefully they’ll have interviewed Dan Gable. Won Olympic gold in freestyle wrestling without giving up a single point in ‘72. In one of his autobiographies, he talks about how he was woken up by the gunfire but thought it was firecrackers so went back to sleep until time for practice. Then he found out he slept through a terrorist attack basically across the street from his dorm.

 

[sglowrider]

Hopefully they’ll have interviewed Dan Gable. Won Olympic gold in freestyle wrestling without giving up a single point in ‘72. In one of his autobiographies, he talks about how he was woken up by the gunfire but thought it was firecrackers so went back to sleep until time for practice. Then he found out he slept through a terrorist attack basically across the street from his dorm.

I just saw the Mark Spitz episode. It's amazing the feat he accomplished -- and to be driven by something that most people would be thrilled to have achieved in Mexico City four years earlier.

It takes a different sort of personality to reach this sort of level of success. That's why I think it's incredible arrogant or ignorant of a lot of folks who freely criticise professional athletes on their mistakes or failures.

 

[Carolina Red]

I just saw the Mark Spitz episode. It's amazing the feat he accomplished -- and to be driven by something that most people would be thrilled to have achieved in Mexico City four years earlier.

It takes a different sort of personality to reach this sort of level of success. That's why I think it's incredible arrogant or ignorant of a lot of folks who freely criticise professional athletes on their mistakes or failures.

Oh absolutely. The amount of commitment to reach that level, and then the amount of composure to keep your cool and perform with the world watching, is unreal.

 

[sglowrider]

Oh absolutely. The amount of commitment to reach that level, and then the amount of composure to keep your cool and perform with the world watching, is unreal.

Did I ever tell you the story about Doc Councilman (Spitz' coach) at IU?

Some kid was trying to fill up his credits and signed up for a diving class that was being taught by Councilman.
Apparently on the first day of the class when the kid had to dive off the elevated platform into the diving pool. What the kid failed to tell Councilman was that he didn't know how to swim.

Poor Councilman, US Swimming Hall of Famer, US Olympic Swim team head coach for 1964 and 1976 teams -- and Mark Spitz's coach at Indiana for 4 years where he won the NCAA championship four years in a row -- had to dive in there to save the kid from drowning.

From one of the greatest swimmer ever to some pimpled faced kid. The climbdown from the heavens to this?

I bet that he must have decided that he needed to retire that day! He was just getting too old for that shite.