My mind keeps going back to one of the most inspiring stories to come out of the recently concluded London Olympics: American sprinter Manteo Mitchell’s performance in the men’s 4×400-meter relay.
Maybe it’s a natural mental response when your sense of order in the universe has been thrown off-kilter by tragic, negative news like the shooting outside the Empire State Building last Friday, just half a block from our office: Your brain looks for something positive to restore that sense of order. What better than a story about a positive thinker, someone who has triumphed over adversity through courage, will and strength of spirit?
Someone like Manteo Mitchell. He was running the first leg for the U.S. team in the prelims of the 4×400-meter relay. Halfway through, he felt—and heard—something break in his lower left leg. “I wanted to just lie down,” he said. “It felt like somebody just literally snapped my leg in half.”
But Mitchell knew that if he didn’t finish the opening leg and pass the baton to his teammate, the U.S. would be disqualified and never make it to the final. Despite what had to be excruciating pain, he didn’t crumple to the track and lie down. He didn’t even slow down much! He kept powering around the track and got the baton to the next runner in 46.1 seconds—barely a second off his personal best and good enough to help the U.S. team qualify for the final, where they won the silver medal.
I think Mitchell deserves a gold medal for guts and positive attitude. X-rays confirmed he’d broken his fibula. How on earth does a man run 200 meters at world-class speed on a broken leg? Some might say sheer adrenaline. Mitchell had a different answer: “Faith, focus, finish. Faith, focus, finish. That’s the only thing I could say to myself.”
Faith, focus, finish. Great words to live by, don’t you think?
