Well, now the race was run – the falling satellite missed us; Tosa turned out to be one of the early casualties along with Deena Kaster of USA. I’m in Colorado right now and, even though they advertise that it’s the live coverage, it’s not and we were an hour behind (which cost me to end up cooking dinner anyway…). During the race, I was getting quite a few calls and text messages but I was too scared to check. I knew Tosa was having some bunion problems and would take a cortisone shot in order to run. Not even an hour after the race was over, I spoke with Tosa’s coach and, as it turned out, her foot problem was more serious than any of us knew. 

As annoying as it may be to us hard-core track fans, or fans of any other sport, that’s the reality and almost nobody gives a hoot about non-Olympic competition and accomplishments outside Olympic Games. It is because Olympic Games are something special. It is what the Olympic Games stand for; once in four years, all nations gather together for this biggest sporting festival. In the ancient Olympic Games, even countries at war would stop fighting and come together to instead “compete” in a sportsmanship way (something some politicians can learn from). Despite all the existing problems like drugs, cash-flow and the whole Games becoming too big, etc.; true spirit of Olympic Games lives on. Who would forget Briton’s Derek Redmond in 1992 Olympic Games 400m semi-final when he collapsed the half way into the race with torn hamstring? Refusing to “quit” and end his Olympic dream as DNF, he hobbled to the finish, obviously in great pain. As his father came out 100m to go and offered a helping shoulder, he couldn’t hold it any more; he burst into tears. His Olympic dream shattered; yet, he didn’t stop his “struggle in life” and won the heart of millions of viewers who witnessed this demonstration of true Olympic spirit. Call me corny or childish; I still choke up when I see that scene (yeah, thanks, VISA commercial!).

Tosa’s coach told me that she was in such pain that it was a miracle that she even lasted 10k, let alone 25k! America’s Deena Kaster apparently had some foot problem of her own and dropped out even earlier than that – somewhere along 5k mark. The defending champion, Mizuki Noguchi was even an earlier casualty that she didn’t even step onto the starting line. And, as we all know, the women’s marathon world record holder, Paula Radcliffe, whose name should definitely go into the history book by shattering the women’s marathon world record in such a great margin, brought the level virtually into the 22nd century with 2:15, had had such a heartbreaking Olympic preparation with a stress fracture in her femur only 3 months before the Games. It must have been absolutely excruciating knowing that she will not going to be 100%...Will she now remembered “only” as the marathon queen who never won Olympic medal? Who would care to acknowledge her “struggle” just to get to the finish line?  Ron Clarke of Australia, arguably THE greatest distance runner of all time, never won the Olympic gold medal. Was he a failure in his athletic career? 

I often think the greatness of the athlete often depends on a question of who can endure the longest. Not so much the physical “duration”, but how long you can keep the motivation; how long you can continue to inspire him-/her-self. The race victor, Constantina Tomescu-Dita is a great example. I’ve seen her taking off early in the race only to be caught up by other runners=eventual winners. Now, at the age of 38, she captured the biggest victory of her life. Our friend, Lorraine Moller, was 37 years old when she won the bronze medal in 1992 Olympic marathon. As I’ve shared in my earlier blog, she had her share of success (5th place in 1984 Olympic marathon) and struggle (37th in 1988 Olympic marathon). I thought, at the time, that that would be it for her. I was wrong. She continued, went on and won the Olympic hardware. When Lorraine was running her first Olympic marathon in Los Angels, the man’s winner was a 37-year-old Carlos Lopes of Portugal. He had won the silver medal in 1976 Olympic 10,000m behind Lasse Viren. Then his career had been hampered with a bad case of Achilles problem for the longest time and everybody wrote him off. By the time he got his Achilles problem under control, he was “too old”. He proved them wrong.

So what would become of Tosa? Well, she’ll be 36 by the time the next Olympics rolls by???  I would love to see her continue to compete but, whatever she decides to do, it wouldn’t make any difference that she is a great athlete and a great person and, to me, a great friend.  I asked coach Watanabe to pass on my message to her: “Thank you for all the inspiration!” My 15-year-old daughter was all worried, watching Tosa start to fall back at around 20k mark, asked me; “What happens if she didn’t win?” I said, “Then she’s not my friend any more! ;o)” Win or lose, Reiko Tosa is Reiko Tosa; nothing would change that. And I shall remember her ever-so-exciting bronze medal performance at Osaka last year; or gutsy front running at 2006 Boston marathon; or tearful come-from-behind win at Nagoya marathon where she captured Athens Olympic selection.  And I shall also remember the time we went to Legal Seafood restaurant in Boston or a Chinese restaurant in Boulder with Lorraine and Rod Dixon.  Good times. Now I can’t sell that Mitsui Sumitomo team Polo shirt on e-bay, I might actually wear that.  But I know I’d be more proud; proud to have known Reiko Tosa.