Chapter 14
Olympic Trials – Part 2
The
second injury of Lopez’ career came ten minutes before the biggest race of his
life. Over the three previous days, Lopez overcame the disappointment of the
jersey pull in the 800 meters final and had breezed through the preliminary
1500 meter rounds. His body felt strong. His hamstring felt so good that he
almost forgot he had injured it.
Right
after he completed stretching for the 1500 meter final, his right foot came
down on what appeared to be a normal patch of grass. It was a hole! His foot
came down awkwardly, twisting his ankle on the same leg that had the bad
hamstring. Pain shot up his leg. He tried to jog it out but he couldn’t put any
weight on his right foot.
“Second
call, 1500 meter men’s final,” the track announcer said. Lopez headed straight
to Dr. Wharton. “I have a problem.”
“What
happened?” Dr. Wharton asked.
“I
twisted my ankle in a hole while doing strides.”
“Are
you serious? Here, lay down. Let me see what I can do.” He grabbed Lopez’ foot
and made a couple of adjustments.
“Third
call, 1500 men’s final.”
His
ankle still did not feel right but he had to go report for the race. They
weren’t going to delay the finals until his ankle healed.
Lopez
grabbed his backpack and started over toward the track. As he walked, he
prayed. “God, I know You gave me this dream for something bigger than myself.
You’ve done too many impossible things in my life so far for me to believe that
You want my dream to end like this.”
Lopez
took another step. The pain in his ankle disappeared. In fact, his ankle felt
like he’d never run a race in his entire life.
“Runners,
to your marks…Get set…” The gun sounded. Lopez took off. The first two laps
went according to his game plan. He stayed alert on the first lap and got into
position on the second lap. The pace picked up on the third lap. Lopez moved
closer to the front, ready to strike. The hamstring felt great. There was no
pain in his ankle. God performed a miracle on his leg. There was no other explanation
that Lopez could come up with.
The
pack rounded the turn and headed up the straightaway for the bell lap. All of a
sudden, Lopez felt a push on his back. Someone had pushed another runner and that
runner fell into Lopez. His feet flew awkwardly and Lopez struggled to keep his
balance. Fortunately, his feet came back under him. No one fell. The bell
sounded. It was time to grab the dream.
Lopez
was right where he wanted to be at the 300 meter mark. He started his kick.
This was his opportunity to make his dream a reality. With two hundred meters
to go, he entered the final curve. He pushed his body harder than he had in any
race in his life. With 150 meters to go, in the middle of the curve, running as
hard as he could, his hamstring tightened with a yank. Pain shot up his leg.
Lopez fell back. Runners passed him. For a moment, he could not run full speed.
He ran
out of the curve and onto the final straightaway. Ninety meters to go.
Eighty-nine. Eighty-eight. He fell further behind.
Then something
remarkable happened, something Lopez could not explain. At the eighty-seven
meter mark, a burst of energy came over him and neutralized the pain in his
leg. His feet flew. He passed one runner, then another. Up ahead, he saw one
runner and then another cross the line. No problem. His goal was the top three.
With one final burst of speed, he passed the last runner in front of him and
crossed the line in third place.
Lopez
fell to the ground, overjoyed. “Thank you, God. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
You did this, not me!”
Management Lesson #19 – Thank God &
Those Who Got You There
It is easy to take credit for your
successes. The reality is that most of the credit is shared. Your success was
only possible because a sovereign God entrusted you with talents (you are but a
steward of His gifts). Your success was aided by those who got you there. Make
sure you thank God and those who assisted you in making your success possible.
