Significant date in Olympic History
Yesterday was the 30 year anniversary of the 1980 Olympic Games and also 2 year countdown to London. I wanted to share this essay by Anita DeFrantz with you. It is worth the read.
The Team with No Result
By Anita L. DeFrantz
Our nation does not know us as Olympians. Our sublime moments of exertion and of triumph do not exist. We have no memories and you have no memories of us. We forever are the team with no result. We are the 1980 United States Olympic Team.
After 25 years, I have come to understand the deep feeling of loss. There were 500 athletes on the 1980 United States Olympic Team. For 219 members of that team, the 1980 Olympic Games was their one chance to compete in the Olympic Games. And those 219 would never march in an Opening Ceremony parade. They would never experience the boundless joy of being welcomed because they represented our nation. Two hundred nineteen US athletes would never live in an Olympic Village where men and women representing every size shape and color of humanity live in peace and respect.
I had the opportunity to experience all of this as a member of the 1976 US Olympic Rowing Team. I know what the others missed.
We had all done the work, paid the price, made the life decisions that would bring us to the Olympic Games, yet we were denied access to the culminating event.
Our team was composed of private citizens who had found a way to finance their dream. The dream was one step from reality. Not one penny of public money, federal, state or local funding supported us as we trained and prepared for our final examination at the Olympic Games. This was a time before sponsorship was allowed for athletes in training. We all had made our own way to become members of the United States Olympic Team.
Our reward? We were given our uniforms. We had a parade in Washington DC although nobody really knew why. It was a ride in a trolley car from the Capitol down Pennsylvania Avenue a couple of blocks and back. We had a picnic at the White House. The cost of our visit to the White House was charged to the United States Olympic Committee.
My friends ask why I can’t get over it. Why it is so hard for me to let go? I have the privilege of working at the LA84 Foundation, which is the legacy of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. My daily work is focused on youth and sport on the field of play and in understanding the role of sport in society.
As a member of the International Olympic Committee, I continue to volunteer for the Olympic movement at the highest level. I serve my sport, rowing, as the vice president of FISA, the international federation.
But the feeling of loss remains palpable. And athletes throughout the world who had been forced to stay home share this sense of loss.
It was at the inaugural USOC Olympic Assembly, April 2005 that I finally understood why I continue to feel the loss.
The program began with a video presentation of scenes from the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. The smiles of athletes and the wondrous show of mutual respect and fair play that is the basis of the Olympic Games delighted the audience.
Later in the program, another video was shown. This time, it was of the 1980 Olympic Winter Games. As always, I experienced an overwhelming rush of emotion and pride. These were my contemporaries.
I had chills as I watched those vignettes of stories that I know so well. And we, who had prepared for the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games to be held that summer, were to be their twins. Our stories would be told just six months later. Then, a flash of understanding hit me.
There were no videos, no pictures. Nothing could be shown to the Olympic Family or to our nation recounting the efforts of the 1980 United States Olympic Team. We are the United States Olympic Team with no result.
When we search our memories to recall the summer of 1980, there are no pictures of competition and joy where the 1980 Olympic Games should be stored. I realized that for every American that memory is missing. The situation is the same for athletes and citizens from other countries that forced their athletes to stay at home. We have all suffered a loss of something very personal from our history.
It is impossible to change the past. My hope is that the 1980 Olympic Team will stand as a barrier against the use of athletes’ efforts outside the sports venues. We know that the only effect is to leave us all without a result.
Perspective.... I told the guys there are a lot of things that we can not control but the one thing that we can control is how we prepare. To win that gold medal will take 100% commitment by everyone. That gold medal seems a ways off right now after the last two days of competition. We were crushed by Serbia 17 - 9 and then lost today 9 - 7 to Croatia. Tomorrow we play Romania and now all the games are must win. With three wins we can still win the tournament. It seems like a long shot but there are signs that we are coming back to life and getting on track.
Romania will be tough here at home. They have had a big crowd here every night and tomorrow will be no different. We will have to be 2-3 goals better than them to win.
I will keep you posted.
See you at the pool.
Coach
The Team with No Result
By Anita L. DeFrantz
Our nation does not know us as Olympians. Our sublime moments of exertion and of triumph do not exist. We have no memories and you have no memories of us. We forever are the team with no result. We are the 1980 United States Olympic Team.
After 25 years, I have come to understand the deep feeling of loss. There were 500 athletes on the 1980 United States Olympic Team. For 219 members of that team, the 1980 Olympic Games was their one chance to compete in the Olympic Games. And those 219 would never march in an Opening Ceremony parade. They would never experience the boundless joy of being welcomed because they represented our nation. Two hundred nineteen US athletes would never live in an Olympic Village where men and women representing every size shape and color of humanity live in peace and respect.
I had the opportunity to experience all of this as a member of the 1976 US Olympic Rowing Team. I know what the others missed.
We had all done the work, paid the price, made the life decisions that would bring us to the Olympic Games, yet we were denied access to the culminating event.
Our team was composed of private citizens who had found a way to finance their dream. The dream was one step from reality. Not one penny of public money, federal, state or local funding supported us as we trained and prepared for our final examination at the Olympic Games. This was a time before sponsorship was allowed for athletes in training. We all had made our own way to become members of the United States Olympic Team.
Our reward? We were given our uniforms. We had a parade in Washington DC although nobody really knew why. It was a ride in a trolley car from the Capitol down Pennsylvania Avenue a couple of blocks and back. We had a picnic at the White House. The cost of our visit to the White House was charged to the United States Olympic Committee.
My friends ask why I can’t get over it. Why it is so hard for me to let go? I have the privilege of working at the LA84 Foundation, which is the legacy of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. My daily work is focused on youth and sport on the field of play and in understanding the role of sport in society.
As a member of the International Olympic Committee, I continue to volunteer for the Olympic movement at the highest level. I serve my sport, rowing, as the vice president of FISA, the international federation.
But the feeling of loss remains palpable. And athletes throughout the world who had been forced to stay home share this sense of loss.
It was at the inaugural USOC Olympic Assembly, April 2005 that I finally understood why I continue to feel the loss.
The program began with a video presentation of scenes from the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. The smiles of athletes and the wondrous show of mutual respect and fair play that is the basis of the Olympic Games delighted the audience.
Later in the program, another video was shown. This time, it was of the 1980 Olympic Winter Games. As always, I experienced an overwhelming rush of emotion and pride. These were my contemporaries.
I had chills as I watched those vignettes of stories that I know so well. And we, who had prepared for the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games to be held that summer, were to be their twins. Our stories would be told just six months later. Then, a flash of understanding hit me.
There were no videos, no pictures. Nothing could be shown to the Olympic Family or to our nation recounting the efforts of the 1980 United States Olympic Team. We are the United States Olympic Team with no result.
When we search our memories to recall the summer of 1980, there are no pictures of competition and joy where the 1980 Olympic Games should be stored. I realized that for every American that memory is missing. The situation is the same for athletes and citizens from other countries that forced their athletes to stay at home. We have all suffered a loss of something very personal from our history.
It is impossible to change the past. My hope is that the 1980 Olympic Team will stand as a barrier against the use of athletes’ efforts outside the sports venues. We know that the only effect is to leave us all without a result.
Perspective.... I told the guys there are a lot of things that we can not control but the one thing that we can control is how we prepare. To win that gold medal will take 100% commitment by everyone. That gold medal seems a ways off right now after the last two days of competition. We were crushed by Serbia 17 - 9 and then lost today 9 - 7 to Croatia. Tomorrow we play Romania and now all the games are must win. With three wins we can still win the tournament. It seems like a long shot but there are signs that we are coming back to life and getting on track.
Romania will be tough here at home. They have had a big crowd here every night and tomorrow will be no different. We will have to be 2-3 goals better than them to win.
I will keep you posted.
See you at the pool.
Coach
posted by Dr. Terry Schroeder at
4:18 PM
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