|
Kelly
Holmes – Thanks for the memory
The expected announcement of Kelly
Holmes’s retirement from competitive athletics filled me
with sadness – and with gratitude. Kelly, thanks for the
memory. Every Olympics seems to have one moment – whether
good or back - that stays in the memory.
1988 Ben Johnson’s 100 metres
win followed by the positive drug test
1992 Derek Redmond finishing the
400 metres assisted by his father
1996 Women’s football really
coming of age
2000 Jonathan Edwards finally
coming good in the Olympics
In 2004 the moment is Kelly Holmes’s
staring eyes as she won the 800 metres. It was the perfect
tactical race. She was not leading after 795 metres and
would probably not have won an 810 metre race. But this was
an 800 metre race and Kelly timed it to perfection and
gold. Going out and winning the 1500 a few days later was
the cherry on the icing on the cake.
What endeared Kelly to many was that
she never had it easy. The triumph in Athens came only in
her 35th year. It was her 3rd
Olympics. She did not make the Games in 1992. In 1996 she
came fourth – sometimes called the worst place to finish.
So close yet without a medal. In 2000 she gained a bronze.
Her other medals include: two
Commonwealth and one European gold, silver in World,
European and Commonwealth. If only she had been injury
free, surely several of those silver and bronze would have
been gold.
Dame Kelly, thanks for the memory!
Stuart Weir |
