Our Fathers

The 2021 Formula 1 season ended in controversy: after 22 races, it all boiled down to the final lap and a few seconds difference between the two top contenders – defending champion Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Dutchman Max Verstappen. In the end, 24-year-old Verstappen prevailed, crowning himself to one of the youngest F1 world champions in history. Had it not been for the crash of Canadian Nicholas Latifi that caused a safety car phase shortly before the end of the season’s final, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, we would almost certainly have witnessed Hamilton winning a record-breaking eight world title.

A lot has been analyzed and said, and the opinions differ dramatically, whether or not the decision by the F1 race director was fair. I will thus not add another opinion piece on this – rather, I would like to discuss the role of athletes’ fathers in sports. I got the idea for this after watching a YouTube video where Max Verstappen, and his father, former F1 racing driver, Jos talk about what they see as a defining moment in Max’ career. 

To summarize the story in a nutshell: in 2012, 15-year-old Max Verstappen was the top title contender at the world karting championships in Italy, when an impetuous move cost him the race. His father Jos was furious after this, refusing to talk to his crying son and abandoning him at a gas station on the way home as a way to teach him a lesson. Eventually Jos turned around and let Max back into the car, but he still refused to talk to the boy for about a week. 

I am not here to discuss anyone’s parenting from a distance, but admit that hearing this was quite disturbing to me. Apparently, it seems Max Verstappen did not crack under the pressure and expectations of his father. But, how many other athletes or students with overly demanding parents are out there that can’t cope with it? 

Pitlane stories

Jos Verstappen is by far not the only parent who has applied a “tough love” approach in coaching their kids. There are numerous stories across all sports where parents have relentlessly pushed their children to the limit, and at times beyond. One particular story I witnessed myself in the Austrian karting championships in the early 1990s: the father of one of the competitors telling his son that he would hit him in the face if he would again brake so early before a corner. Given that we were going around that circuit 150 kilometers per hour, I found that quite a shocking thing to tell a 14-year-old at the time.

A father-son relationship is not always easy, even more so when it is also a coach-athlete relationship. As children, we tend to admire our parents and we want to do well in whatever we do so they can be proud of us. That alone can create tension and pressure in young athletes. 

One of the most famous, and successful, father and son pairs in the history of sports was certainly Peter Coe coaching his son Sebastian who went on to become a two times Olympic middle-distance running champion and multiple world record holder over 800 and 1500 meter, and the mile. I remember reading Coe’s book “Running Free” when I was a boy. While the older Coe was a tough coach, who demanded a lot from his son both in athletics and in school, he also had a nurturing way and knew when he had to let go, and not demand too much. I remember reading that when the Coe’s once came home late evening from a meeting, 15-year-old Seb told his father that he did not have the time anymore to prepare for an exam the next day and that he might fail it, to which Coe father replied, “The 1:56 [over 800 meters] you ran this afternoon is worth more.”  

Being a son, being a father

Finding the right balance in fostering one’s children’s sports or academic careers – encouraging but not demanding too much – is certainly a difficult challenge. Often times, parents try to project their own, unfulfilled dreams and ambitions on their kids which can create unhealthy expectations and eventually cause a young athlete lose their interest in competitive sports.

Fortunately, my father was not like that. Being an avid skier, he was my skiing coach when I was a young kid. There was no pressure from him, not at all – I created all that pressure myself in my desire to show my dad how well I could compete. Competing in the lower leagues of local and regional skiing championships, and certainly not talented enough to make it to the top of Austria’s ultra-competitive skiing pool, I was nevertheless a very ambitious skier – overly ambitious, perhaps, and a sore loser, for sure. I remember not wanting to attend a victory ceremony as a ten-year-old because I had not won. 

It was my father with his calm demeanor who helped me address these issues and put things into perspective. He also taught me that while competing and winning are important, they are not everything, and that we should not try to win at all costs. A few years later, at 14 or 15, I had taken those lessons in, and when I lost it did not feel anymore as if the world was coming to an end. Life carried on, and I realized it is about giving ones best rather than winning that counts. Thank you for that, dad.

Unfortunately, my father is no longer with us. But I carry his lessons with me and I try to pass them on to my kids who are now starting off in sports. Sometimes I notice I get carried away when I see how well they do in something, and I have to remind myself that playing sports is primarily about having fun. If they would eventually like to pursue a sport competitively, I will try to support them to the best of my ability – acknowledging that being a dad is a tough job, and like all fathers I am far from being perfect. 

Harti’s Ritt zu Gold

Erinnerungen an die Alpine Ski-Weltmeisterschaft in Schladming 1982

Ich war vier Jahre alt, als Franz Klammer 1976 in Innsbruck alle in ihn gesetzten Erwartungen erfüllte und am Patscherkofel zu olympischem Abfahrtsgold raste – zu jung um daran irgendeine Erinnerung zu haben. Auch an Sepp Walcher’s WM-Titel in Garmisch zwei Jahre später kann ich mich nicht erinnern. Erst Leonhard Stock’s Olympiasieg in Lake Placid 1980 ist mir vage in Erinnerung.

Zwei Jahre später, bei der Ski-WM in Schladming, war ich zehn Jahre alt und in der vierten Klasse Volksschule. Erika Hess war der große Star der Frauen-Rennen und bei den technischen Disziplinen der Herren war Ingemar Stenmark in der Favoritenrolle, der er im Slalom auch gerecht wurde. Im Riesenslalom wurde er nur Zweiter hinter Steve Mahre, was dem legendären Schweden offensichtlich nicht schmeckte – jedenfalls erzählte mir meine Großmutter, die die Siegerehrung gesehen hatte, dass sich der drittplatzierte Jugoslawe Boris Strel mehr über Bronze freute, als Stenmark über Silber.

Am besten kann ich mich an den Abfahrtslauf der Herren erinnern, auch an das Vorfeld. Franz Klammer war verletzt, konnte aber letztlich doch starten – und bei einer Blitzumfrage unserer Volksschullehrerin tippten die meisten auf einen Sieg des Altstars. Ein Kollege und ich hatten Harti Weirather auf der Rechnung, ein 24-jähriger Tiroler aus Reutte, und als amtierender Abfahrtsweltcupsieger bereits ein erfahrener Haudegen. 

Das Rennen ging am 6. Februar 1982 über die Bühne, ein Samstag, zur Mittagszeit – es gab Kaiserschmarrn zum Essen und in Schladming war Kaiserwetter, wie ORF-Reporterlegende Robert Seeger aus dem TV erzählte. Gemeinsam mit Ex-Racer Werner Grissmann kommentierte er den Event. Ein Highlight war als Erwin Resch den Stock verlor und trotzdem zu Bronze fuhr – und alle fragten sich nachher, was ohne dieses Missgeschick möglich gewesen wäre. Silber ging an Überraschungsmann Conradin Cathomen aus der Schweiz – und Gold an Harti Weirather.

Ich erinnere mich an seine beherzte Fahrt, meine Freude über seinen Sieg und den legendären Fischer RC4-Lochski, der danach unter uns Youngsters hochbegehrt war. Good memories, indeed. Unglaublich, dass das schon 40 Jahre her ist. 

Gold in Sydney

Interview with Tara Nott-Cunningham, the first female weightlifting Olympic champion in history 

Sydney, 2000: Women’s weightlifting is being introduced at the Olympic Games.  Among the 85 competitors across the various weight categories is 28-year-old Tara Nott from the USA, competing in the flyweight division (48 kilograms/106 pounds) – the first female weightlifting Olympic champion in history.

Tara Nott, now Nott-Cunningham, a former gymnast and soccer player, had started weightlifting only five years earlier, in 1995.  Nott-Cunningham showed great prospect: a year later she was already US champion and in 1997 she made her first World Championships team – and in 2000 she represented the United States in weightlifting at the Sydney Olympics.

21 years later, Nott-Cunningham reflects on her Olympic experience, and her beginning in the sport. 

1. Before your weightlifting career you were both an elite gymnast and soccer player.  To what extent have these earlier sports experiences provided a foundation/prepared you for your move to weightlifting? 

Tara Nott-Cunningham: From gymnastics I feel like I gained flexibility, strength, explosive power and the mental toughness to compete on my own in front of people.  Soccer also added to my explosive power and speed which is used in weightlifting.

2. Your first passion was artistic gymnastics.  Could you please tell us how that started?  What was your favorite gymnastics event and why?  

I got started in gymnastics after watching the 1976 Olympics and Nadia Comaneci.  After watching I went into our backyard and tried an aerial cartwheel and landed on my head.  After that my mom enrolled me in gymnastics.  I enjoyed vault the most, maybe because that was my best event and I was more of a power gymnast.

3. At 23 you were working with the Atlanta Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.  It was at that time, in 1995, that you started weightlifting.  How did that happen?  

At the Atlanta Organizing Committee I worked in the sports department for the sport of soccer.  I had just graduated from college where I played division I soccer and was looking for something to do to just stay in shape.  While I was at an after-work event, I started talking to Mike Gattone, the person running weightlifting for the Olympics, and Lyn Jones and mentioned I would like to learn weightlifting.  We started working out three days a week at 6 am before work.  I loved that weightlifting was both physically and mentally challenging.

4. Five years later, you qualified as one of four women to represent the USA in the inaugural women’s weightlifting competition at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.  What were your hopes when you flew to Australia?  Did you dream of a medal?  

Being one of four women to compete at the 2000 Olympics when women’s weightlifting was making its debut was an honor.  When I started weightlifting women were not in the Olympics so it was not a dream of mine at the time to compete at the Olympics.  Going into the Olympics, I had consistently placed in the top 10 in the world so I felt if I lifted well, I could possibly sneak in for a bronze medal but had never thought about a gold medal.  I also had a total in my mind that I wanted to make so that was my primary focus.

5. Your event – flyweight, 48 kilograms/106 pounds – was the first in the women’s weightlifting competition.  You were awarded the gold medal after the original winner, Izabela Dragneva of Bulgaria, was disqualified for doping.  Can you please tell us when and how you heard the news?  What was the first thought on your mind once you knew you were an Olympic champion?   

I found out that I would be awarded the gold medal three days after the competition from a phone call from the USA Weightlifting executive director, and he said, “Is this Tara Nott?”  And I said, “Yes”.  He then said, “Is this Tara Nott, the Olympic weightlifter?”  And I said, “Yes”.  At this point I was thinking he knows who I am stop messing around with me, then he said, “Is this Tara Nott, the Olympic champion?”  And I said, “No”.  I was just shocked.  I was out sightseeing with my family and didn’t really know what to say or think at that time.

6. There was a critical moment, before your final, third attempt in snatch, when you needed to lift 82.5kg – after you had missed that weight on your second attempt.  Can you please tell us how you approached that situation mentally?    

Yes, that third snatch was a critical lift.  I had made 82.5kg once in competition at the Olympic Trials right before the Olympics.  I knew I could do the weight and was frustrated I had missed my second lift with it.  I remember telling myself “controlled aggression” which was one of the key words/phrases I repeated to myself.  I also remember standing behind the bar and taking a deep breath with my eyes closed to calm myself down.  I also had a Bible verse (“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13) taped to my shoe and I grabbed the bar, and remember reading that verse as I got set for the lift.  I pulled the bar so hard that when I caught the lift, I felt my back pop all between my shoulder blades and all I could think was hold on to this.     

7. What would you say are the three most important skills a weightlifter should possess to make it to the top?  

I think a weightlifter needs to have physical strength, be technically sound (in the lifts) and mentally strong.  A combination of these things is needed to do well in competitions.

8. You retired from the sport in 2004 after the Athens Games where you finished tenth.  Can you please tell us about your life since then, and what you are doing now?  Are you doing any sports in your leisure time?   

I got married in 2003 and we did long distance until I retired after the Games in 2004.  I moved from the Olympic Training Center where I had lived since 1997 to Michigan where my husband was coaching college wrestling.  We had our first son – Hayden, now 16 – 8 1/2 months after I competed at the 2004 Olympics (he was 2 weeks early).  From then we have had four more kids – Asher 15, Ryder 13, Saige 11, and Sterling 8.  My husband has coached at Central Michigan, Iowa State, and then eleven years at Penn State University as Assistant Coach for Wrestling.  I have stayed very busy being a stay-at-home mom.  I work out, but don’t do the full Olympic lifts anymore.  I now go in and work out with my older boys at times which is fun.  My husband travels a lot so it has been important for me to stay at home with them and get them to all the things they enjoy doing.  We have three that wrestle, two do gymnastics and one does dance and theater, so it is a full-time job.

9. Can you please tell us how you are sharing your Olympic experience with others?  When you make school visits, what are kids most interested in learning from you?  

After the 2000 Games and until I had kids, I would go and share my Olympic experience at schools.  It has been fun now to go to my own kids’ schools and share the medal and talk about weightlifting.  I think the kids are amazed at how small I am and that I could also lift that much weight.  They also love to see the medal and I love to let them hold it.

10. Weightlifting is currently at risk of being dropped from the Olympic program.  As an Olympic champion and fan of the sport, what are your hopes and wishes for weightlifting in the future?

It is very sad to see what is going on in weightlifting right now.  As a former lifter I would be heartbroken to see weightlifting dropped from the Olympics, but I also want to see it cleaned up.  I want the playing field to be level for all competitors.  No athlete should have to get their medal three days later or worse four to five years later because of a failed doping test.  Athletes should feel confident that everyone is playing by the rules.

Der entscheidende Unterschied

Wer im sportlichen Wettkampf, insbesondere im Spitzensport, wo es um hundertstel Sekunden und Zentimeter geht, vorne sein will, der muss nicht nur körperlich topfit sein – sondern auch mental.  „Im Hirn wird viel mehr entschieden als mit den Füßen“, bringt es Fußballtrainerlegende Jupp Heynckes auf den Punkt.[1]

Einer, der sich seit mehr als 20 Jahren auf das Thema mentale Stärke im Sport fokussiert, ist der 46-jährige Sportpsychologe und Mentalcoach Christian Schmidhofer aus Linz in Österreich.  Der Autor des Buchs „Stark im Kopf: Mit mentaler Stärke zum Sieg“ (erschienen 2021 im Verlag Nina Roiter) unterstützt sowohl Einzelsportler als auch Teams aus den verschiedensten Sportarten im mentalen Bereich – Schwerpunkte sind dabei unter anderem die Themen Umgang mit Leistungsdruck, Nervosität und Konzentration.

Im Gespräch mit Sports-Montfort verrät Schmidhofer mehr über seine Tätigkeit und worauf es im mentalen Bereich ankommt.

1. Können Sie uns bitte etwas über Ihren Background verraten?  Wie sind Sie auf Ihren Beruf gekommen?  

Ich habe Psychologie studiert und im Lauf der Jahre Zusatzausbildungen (Mentaltrainer, Sportpsychologe, Einzel- und Teamcoach) absolviert.  Mir war wichtig die Psychologie und den Sport – den ich selbst in Form von Tennis, Fußball und Laufen ausübe – zu verbinden.  Vor etwa 20 Jahren hat sich dann die erste Möglichkeit ergeben, ich konnte die Betreuung einer Nachwuchs-Tennisspielerin übernehmen – weitere Klienten folgten bald, so ist es mir gelungen in diesem Beruf Fuß zu fassen.  Ich bin sehr froh, dass ich es geschafft habe mein Hobby zum Beruf zu machen.

2. Was ist das Schöne an Ihrer beruflichen Tätigkeit als Sportpsychologe und Mentalcoach?

Dass sie sehr abwechslungsreich ist, verschiedene Herausforderungen, viele und neue Lösungen zu entdecken.  Und dass sich die Prinzipien der Sportpsychologie auch auf andere Gebiete anwenden lassen – ich arbeite auch mit Klienten aus der Wirtschaft und aus dem Sozialbereich zusammen.  Überall wo sich Leute Ziele setzen, kann man mit mentaler Stärke etwas erreichen.      

3. Die Leistungen im Spitzensport liegen oft hauchdünn beieinander.  Was macht bei gleichem Talent und Einsatz den entscheidenden Unterschied zwischen Sieg und Niederlage aus?  Wie viel entscheidet sich im Kopf?

Wenn die konditionellen, technischen und taktischen Fähigkeiten gleich sind, entscheidet mentale Stärke über Sieg oder Niederlage – wie ich über mich, den Wettkampf, einen möglichen Gegner denke und was ich mir zutraue.

4. Was zeichnet einen mental starken Sportler aus? 

Dass er an sich glaubt und von seinen Fähigkeiten überzeugt ist.  Und dass er im entscheidenden Moment fokussiert ist und mit Rückschlägen gut umgehen kann.  Wichtig ist dabei auch die Bedeutung, die ich einem Wettbewerb und dem Ergebnis beimesse – auf der einen Seite soll einem der Event natürlich wichtig sein um die nötige Spannung aufzubringen, auf der anderen darf man sich nicht verkrampfen und zu viel wollen.  Mental starke Sportler sind Meister darin diesen Spagat zu schaffen, diese innere Balance zu finden.

5. Wie gehen mental starke Sportler mit Niederlagen um?

Sie sehen Niederlagen als Teil des Ganzen, forschen nach Ursachen und versuchen es beim nächsten Mal besser zu machen.  Fußballcoach Ralph Hasenhüttl beschreibt das sehr schön: „Wir verlieren nie.  Entweder wir gewinnen oder wir lernen etwas dazu.“ 

6. Was kann ein Sportler tun um mental stärker zu werden?  Wie kann man eine Siegermentalität entwickeln?  

Er arbeitet permanent an sich selbst – reflektiert sein Verhalten, lernt daraus, macht mentale Übungen zu den Themen Konzentration, Entspannung, Visualisierung und stärkt sein Selbstvertrauen.

7. Würden Sie bitte drei Tipps verraten, die Sportlern helfen können um mental stärker zu werden?

Laufend Erfolge und gute Trainingsleistungen zu visualisieren, Konzentrationsübungen und wettkampfspezifisches Training.  Ein Beispiel aus dem Tennissport: wenn ich im Training bewusst stressvolle Situationen erzeuge, etwa ein Tiebreak simuliere, dann kann ich mich bewusst auf Momente, in denen es „gilt“, vorbereiten.

8. Gibt es einen bekannten Sportler/eine bekannte Sportlerin, der/die Sie ob seiner/ihrer mentalen Stärke besonders beeindruckt bzw. (falls bereits zurückgetreten) beeindruckt hat?  Warum hat er/sie besonders beeindruckt?

Es sind zwei: Marcel Hirscher, der immer, wenn es darauf ankam, geliefert hat, sich immer verbessern wollte und sich nie mit dem Erreichten zufrieden gab – er hatte einen extrem guten Fokus, schaffte es, wenn es darauf ankam, in den Tunnel zu kommen und Störfaktoren auszublenden.  Und Rafael Nadal, weil er bei wichtigen Spielständen immer sein bestes Tennis abrufen kann.


[1] Zitat von Jupp Heynckes im Dokumentarfilm “KROOS” über Real-Madrid-Star Toni Kroos.

Turning the Wheels

Alex Zanardi’s incredible career and mental strength

I remember when I read the horrible news on 19 June 2020: car racing and paracycling champion Alex Zanardi had crashed while competing in a paracycling road race in his native Italy. Severe, life-threatening head injuries.    

I was shocked. As shocked as I was 18 years earlier, when Zanardi lost both his legs in a CART race accident at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz. I remembered his incredible comeback from that – how he defied all the odds, and not only got back into car racing but went into a new sport, paracycling, and became an icon, a symbol for indomitable spirit, mental strength and positive outlook. And, as millions around the globe, I hoped and prayed that he would make a recovery again.

Early Career

Alessandro “Alex” Zanardi was born on 23 October 1966 in Bologna, Italy. He got into karting aged 13 and gradually progressed through the ranks; second place in the 1991 International Formula 3000 Series brought him his first Formula 1 assignment with the Jordan team in the same year. In the next three years he competed with Minardi and Lotus, respectively, scoring one championship point in the 1993 season which earned him 20th place in that year’s drivers’ championship. 

With 25 Formula 1 Grands Prix under his belt, he went to the USA in 1995 and after several tests he secured a seat with the Ganassi Racing team for the following CART season. It was there, where Zanardi was able to show his true potential at a global stage for the first time – he finished third and as “Rookie of the Year” in his premiere CART season. And the following two years it went even better: Zanardi won the CART championships 1997 and 1998, and with that recommendation he re-entered Formula 1 for the 1999 season with the Williams team. 

Unfortunately, Williams was at that time not anymore the top-notch address it was just a few years earlier, and also Zanardi failed to leave his mark. He thus returned to the USA to compete again in the CART series in 2001 with the Mo Nunn Racing team.

Accident in Lausitz

Zanardi was in a midfield position in the drivers’ ranking, when the CART circus stopped at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany on 15 September for the 15th race of the 2001 season. The Italian was leading the field when he came in for a pit stop in the final stages of the race, 13 laps before the checkered flag. Coming out of the pit lane, he spun, and a competitor hit his Reynard-Honda sideways at full speed. The monocoque was spilt apart, debris stretched over the track – a horrifying scene for the first responders on site.

Alex’ legs had been severed above the knee, blood was pouring out. It was a matter of life and death, he lost 75 per cent of his blood and in the helicopter to a Berlin hospital he had to be reanimated seven times. Given the grave injuries, there was noting the doctors could do for his legs – but they miraculously saved his life. 

After three days in a medically induced coma and on artificial respiration, Zanardi woke up in his hospital bed. His wife Daniela by his side. “’I love you very much,’ she was saying. ‘I am going to stay close to you, no matter what. You’ve had a bad accident (…) But everything is OK now. In the accident you lost both legs, but I have been reading a lot, and some day you’ll walk again and do a lot of things that you loved to do.’ Zanardi listened quietly. ‘I love you,’ he said, ‘and the important thing is that I am alive. Don’t worry. We’ll find a way through this. Now let me go back to sleep. I’m tired.’” (Nack 2002) 

Back on Track

Zanardi was released from hospital on 31 October 2001 – only six weeks after the accident. He immediately started with his rehabilitation, “When he first showed up at the prosthetic centre, his left stump was still raw, and walking on it with an artificial limb caused considerable pain. Yet every weekday morning he rose early at his mother’s house in Castel Maggiore and drove the nine miles to the centre, in the town of Budrio, to begin his long, difficult hours of rehabilitation.” (Nack 2002)

Alex worked tirelessly. His number one objective at that time was to be able to walk again, “On artificial legs for the first time, bracing himself with his arms on parallel bars, he walked like a newborn foal. ‘I was really putting pressure with my arms, and I was crossing my legs,’ he says. ‘I thought, Man, I’ll never be able to do it right! Then you improve and have more feeling. You start to walk better. First time you step on these new legs, it’s bloody hard. It’s painful on your pelvic bones. But every day I get more of a feel for where my feet are.’” (Nack 2002)  

By July 2002, about ten months after his accident, he was back with the CART series, walking on crutches and visiting his friends. Going back to car racing had been on the back of his mind for some time already, and now he started to formulate concrete plans. And indeed – 20 months after the accident, in May 2003, he was back at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz, dealing with unfinished business: he completed the 13 remaining laps from the 2001 race. He did so in an impressive manner – steering a specifically fitted car that allowed him to control everything by hand, he clocked 37.487 seconds in his fastest lap. A time with which he would have qualified fifth for the actual CART race that weekend. Everyone was amazed. 

Soon after, Alex was back in competitive racing, for the 10th round of the 2003 European Touring Car Championship, driving a BMW 320i. He finished an impressive seventh. This convinced everyone that he still had what it took, and in the following year he was back racing full-time.        

In 2005, Zanardi competed in the World Touring Car Championship where he scored a race win at the series’ round in Oschersleben, and finished tenth overall. In the same year, Alex won the Italian Super Touring Car Championship. Zanardi remained extremely busy for the next four years, competing in 94 races of which he won seven. 

At the end of 2009, car racing took a backseat for Zanardi: by then, the 43-year-old had taken up paracycling and showed real prospect. A few years later, in 2014, he would start competing in cars again racing occasionally until 2019 – however, his main focus was now on three rather than four wheels.

Paralympic Glory

Zanardi approached his paracycling career in the same way he had earlier car racing and his rehabilitation after the accident in Lausitz: with optimism, dedication and an indomitable can-do spirit. “I’ve never met a single person with the mental strength of that guy. He’s super human”, said CART team owner Chip Ganassi, when asked about his former driver. (Ganassi 2019)  

And Alex didn’t have to wait long for results: he first stood on the podium of the Paracycling Road World Championships in 2011, winning silver in the time trial. A year later, an even bigger prize beckoned: the Paralympic Games in London. “Zanardi made his name as a Paralympian (…), creating one of the iconic images of the Games by lifting his hand-cycle above his head after he had captured Paralympic gold in the time trial H4. He went on to win gold in the road race and silver in the mixed relay team H1-4.” (International Paralympic Committee)

The Italian repeated this feat four years later at the Games in Rio, claiming gold in the time trial and mixed relay events, respectively, as well as silver in the road race. In addition to his Paralympic victories, he also won 12 world championship titles from 2013 to 2019, establishing himself as one of the most successful paracyclists.

A Kind Man

More than his numerous successes, it is through his personality that Zanardi became an inspiration for so many people around the world. Researching for this article, I read a lot about Alex and watched many video interviews with him – in addition to his dedication and never-give-up attitude, amazing charm and sense of humor, optimism and authenticity, they reveal in particular also an enormous zest for life, someone who truly enjoys and is enthusiastic about life. They reveal a happy person, a kind man.

When one reflects about Alex’ paracycling accident, one could easily start asking “why” – why again, after all he had gone through before. I don’t want to end this article in such a somber tone, but rather on a positive note, as I am pretty sure Alex would do it, too. One year after the accident, his wife Daniela spoke about his recovery process, and while it is challenging, he “is in a stable condition, which means he is able to undergo training programmes for both his brain and his body. He can communicate with us, but he is still unable to speak. After a long time in a coma, the vocal cords must regain their elasticity. This is only possible through practice and therapy. He still has a lot of strength in his arms and hands, and is training intensively on the equipment.” (Zanardi 2021)

Alex, as so many others around the world, I hope and pray that you will come back again.

Wishing you all the best, Campione!

References

Nack, William (2002). “Zanardi the brave”. In: The Guardian. 4 August 2002. URL: https://www.theguardian.com/observer/osm/story/0,6903,766954,00.html Checked on 19 September 2021.

Ganassi, Chip (2019). In: Associated Press. Alex Zanardi takes center stage as he wheels around Daytona. In: The Morning Call. 7 January 2019. URL: https://www.mcall.com/sports/mc-spt-zanardi-daytona-20190107-story.html Checked on 19 September 2021.

International Paralympic Committee. Alex Zanardi, Italy. Cycling. URL: https://www.paralympic.org/alex-zanardi Checked on 19 September 2021. 

Zanardi, Daniela (2021). In: bmw-motorsport.com. Alessandro Zanardi: The recovery process of a real fighter. 1 July 2021. URL: https://www.bmw-motorsport.com/en/topics/magazine-article-pool/alessandro-zanardi-recovery-process.html Checked on 21 September 2021.


Athens 1896

Sorbonne University, Paris; June 23, 1894. Under the applause of 2,000 people, 31-year-old Baron Pierre de Coubertain introduces the idea of his life at the inaugural Congress of the IOC – the rebirth of the Olympic Games after more than 1,500 years.

Approximately two years later, in April 1896, Coubertain’s dream became a reality: the first Olympic Games of the modern era were hosted in Athens. 241 athletes from 14 nations competed in 43 events – in the following nine sports: athletics, swimming, cycling, fencing, gymnastics artistic, weightlifting, wrestling, shooting, and tennis. 

American James Brendan Connolly became the first Olympic champion of the modern era by winning the triple jump, German gymnast and weightlifter Carl Schuhmann was the most successful competitor scoring four victories. 

Greek shepherd Spiridon Louis became the champion of hearts: the 23-year-old won the marathon, the major event for the host nation. Louis had spent the night before the race of his life praying in a church. Three kilometers from the finish line, he overtook Edwin Flack of Australia, and when he entered the stadium both the Greek king and crown prince accompanied him for the last meters of the race. He was awarded a small pension from the state, and got a goat as present from the IOC, as well as a donkey cart from the king, among others. A barber promised him lifelong shaving for free. In a victory parade, he was brought back to his village Maroussi on the outskirts of Athens.[1]

Four years later, 1900 in Paris, there were already 997 athletes participating in the Olympics, including the first women. Ever since, the Olympic Summer Games have been hosted every four years – except for the war years of 1916, 1940 and 1944, and the “corona year” of 2020. The first Winter Games were hosted in 1924 in Chamonix.  

The world has fundamentally changed in those 124 years since Athens 1896, as have the Olympics – from a fringe event to a gigantic mega-event. What did not change though, is the broad spectrum of emotions that both athletes and spectators experience, which is certainly a defining aspect of the fascination of the Games, and sports. 

[1] Reference to the article “Athen 1896 – Wiedergeburt der Spiele”, published on August 6, 2004 in the online edition of Austrian newspaper “Der Standard” (derstandard.at); checked on October 7, 2020. 


13,71 Meters for Eternity

James Brendan Connolly: the First Olympic Champion of the Modern Era

Panathenaic Stadium, Athens, Greece. April 6, 1896. A cloudy, chilly spring day.

James Brendan Connolly is preparing for his competition – the triple jump, the first decision of the first Olympic Games of the modern era. The 27-year old American stands 5 feet 9 inches tall. He comes from Boston, Massachusetts, where he grew up as one of twelve children of a poor, Irish immigrant family.

Connolly had to overcome many obstacles to be here. The seven competitors for the triple jump title come from five countries, everyone has three attempts. No one knows until the end, how far the others and they themselves have jumped – the rules of the time. The official, Charles Perry from the London Athletic Club, is levelling the sand pit after each attempt. After his second try, Connolly said to Perry, “They ought to let a fuhla know, how far he jumps.” “As far as you’re concerned, you can go back to your dressing room and take your barth. You have this event in your pocket right now”, responded the official.

Perry was right: with 13,71 meters, Connolly leaped more than a meter farther than the second placed Frenchman Tuffèri. The US flag is being raised, and the Star-Spangled Banner, the national anthem, played. “You’re the first Olympic victor in fifteen hundred years”, says Connolly to himself, and then, “The gang back home will be tickled when they hear of it!” The winners in 1896 were by the way not awarded with a gold medal – this is only the case since 1908; rather they got silver medals, and the second placed competitors bronze medals. No medals were awarded for the third place.

Sportsman and Student

As mentioned, Connolly had to overcome many obstacles – after dropping out from school, he worked as a clerk with an insurance company, and then joined the army. In parallel, he studied for the university entrance exam, and in October 1895 – half a year before Athens – he was accepted in Harvard where he studied engineering. He had been active in sports since his early childhood in Boston, running and jumping in the park against other kids. Later he also picked up football and cycling – before the arrival of the automobile, the latter was one of the most popular sports at the end of the 19th century.      

Maybe it was also due to his keen interest in Greco-Roman culture, in addition to his passion for sports – either way, when Connolly learned about the Olympic Games in Athens, he decided to participate. He sought to get a leave of absence from his studies, which Harvard rejected. This left him no other choice than to quit his studies. As member of the first, 14-member strong, US Olympic team he travelled to Greece. It is unclear who eventually paid for Connolly’s trip – depending on the source, it was either himself or his local team, the Suffolk Athletic Club.

A Journey with Obstacles

Together with most of the other US Olympic team members, Connolly boarded the German ocean steamer “Barbarossa” which travelled to Naples. The team had a two-days stop-over there, until they would resume the journey by train to Brindisi. As it turned out, Connolly had to bring his athletic abilities to good use to still make the train – to provide some additional background, Connolly’s purse was stolen a day earlier, and on the day of departure to Brindisi someone gave it to the police. The policemen wanted that Connolly files a protocol at the police station, so that the thieve could be prosecuted.  

It was getting close to departure time, and Connolly got increasingly anxious, as he recalls in his autobiography “Sea Borne: Thirty Years Avoyaging”, “There was a clock on the wall, and the long hand was on the ten-minutes-to-eight mark. I pointed to the clock saying: “Train to Brin-dee-see. Otto! Otto! Eight o’clock.””

The police officers were unimpressed, and insisted that Connolly still files the report. Eventually, Connolly “broke loose and ran for the train. It was a spacious railway station, and I did not know which platform to run to, but I kept yelling, “Brin-dee-see! Brin-dee-see! Otto! Otto!”“ Eventually, a porter pointed him the way, “Brin-dee-see! Si! Si!”. 

The train was already pulling out of the station, there was no time to waste. With a courageous jump Connolly made it on board in the very last moment, three of his colleagues held him and pulled him in. “I did not know it then, but if I had missed that train, I would not have reached Athens in time for my event in the games”, he reflected later.

From Brindisi, the journey continued by ferry, and then again via train to Athens, where Connolly and his colleagues arrived after a 16-day-long journey. In Athens, the US team faced the next surprise: they had assumed that the Games would only start in twelve days, thus giving them sufficient time to rest and prepare. However, there was a misunderstanding regarding the date – at the time, there was still another calendar system, the Julian calendar, in use in Greece. And somewhere, somehow, someone must have mixed up the dates.    

Fortunately, a US team member realized during breakfast that the Games would already start on that very day. Also, the first events would already take place – including the first final, the triple jump.

Journey Home

In addition to his victory in the triple jump, Connolly came in second in the high jump, and third in the long jump. Altogether, the US boys won nine of the twelve track and field events in Athens, and secured six second places. A proper welcome was organized for the successful Olympians after their return to the United States. Connolly, however, did not immediately return, as he prolonged his stopover in France, “I had stayed behind in Paris. I had read too much about Paris to be leaving it in a hurry now that I found myself there.” After four weeks, he travelled to London where he stayed another two weeks until he returned to the USA, where the citizenry of South Boston organized a celebration, and handed him a gold watch.         

“It was swell hearing the old gang say: “Boy, you were good!””, remembered Connolly. “But when I took time to look around, there I was done with college and my money spent. I did not regret the college or the spending, but there was my living to make.” 

Life After Athens

Connolly’s life remained adventurous. Four years after Athens, at the age of 31, he participated in the Olympics in Paris, again in the triple jump where he landed on the second place behind his compatriot Myer Prinstein.  

Connolly participated also at the Games in St. Louis in 1904, although this time not anymore as an athlete, but as a journalist. At that point, he had already discovered his writing talent – after having participated in the Spanish-American War of 1898 as a solider, he had published his experience in the Boston Globe. After that he wrote primarily stories that took place at sea. His yearlong experience on ships of all types, from fishing boats to military vessels, was certainly beneficial for that. 

When James Connolly died aged 88 in 1957, he left behind a literary legacy of 25 novels and over 200 short stories.

More than 120 years after Connolly won in Athens, the photos of that time are already yellowed. In his hometown though, more precisely in Joe Moakley Park in South Boston, a statue is remembering of Connolly and his Olympic feat – exactly 13,71 meters after take-off, the athlete touches ground. He went far, James Brendan Connolly, the first Olympic Champion of the modern era.