The Summer Olympics are here and I cannot wait for Friday’s opening ceremony in Paris.
A Summer Olympics fan since I started watching them in 1972 when I was seven years old, I also love its history.
One of my favorite shows as a youth was “The Olympiad,” a series of documentaries on the Olympic Games, produced by the legendary Bud Greenspan.
As the world embarks on the Games of the 33rd Olympiad, I would like to share a few of my favorite Olympic memories. Of course, some of them include our great athletes from St. Louis.
*The Spinks Jinx: The USA Olympic boxing team in 1976 is legendary as the team brought home five gold medals from Montreal. Two of those gold medals were won by St. Louis brothers Michael and Leon Spinks. Michael started it off when he stopped Soviet Rufat Fiskiyev to win the gold in the middleweight division.
A big highlight was when Leon fought Cuba’s Sixto Soria for the light heavyweight gold medal. Leon dominated the first part of the fight, but Soria came on strong in the third round and had Leon staggering and in trouble. I can still remember legendary boxing announcer Howard Cosell saying on the broadcast, “Spinks is without boxing skill.” Then it happened. Out of nowhere, Leon hit Soria with a monstrous right hand and dropped him. Just like that, Leon Spinks was also a gold medalist. We had a house full of guests and we all went crazy. That moment still lives with me to this very day.
JJK: You cannot talk about the Olympics track and field without talking about the great Jackie Joyner-Kersee. The East St. Louis native is the best woman to ever do it. Jackie won three gold medals in two different Olympiads in 1988 and 1992. She won the heptathlon and the long jump. The moment I vividly remember was when she sailed an Olympic record 24 feet 3 inches to win the gold in the long jump in 1988. She put her hands over her face in great excitement. The next shot you saw was her coach and then husband Bob Kersee jumping up and down, falling down and screaming with excitement with what JJK had just accomplished.
Moses: My favorite Olympic athlete of all time is legendary hurdler Edwin Moses, who was the king of the 400-meter hurdles. During his iconic career, Moses won 122 consecutive races during a 10-year period, which included two gold medals and four gold medals. Edwin is a native of Dayton, OH, which is also the hometown of my late father. So, we were all invested when Edwin set into the blocks for the finals of the 400-meter hurdles at the 1976 Olympics. Not only did Moses win the gold medal, he shattered the world record. Finishing second was his USA teammate Mike Shine. The rest was history for Edwin Moses.
USA Basketball: Of course, you know I’m going to talk about some USA hoops. In the last Olympic games in Tokyo in 2021, the USA raced to a gold medal. One of the top players on that team was St. Louisan Jayson Tatum. The former Chaminade College Prep star was second on the team in scoring to star Kevin Durant. Jayson had some great performances on his way to getting his first gold medal. He was the first St. Louisan to win a gold medal in men’s basketball since JoJo White, who helped lead the USA to the gold medal in 1968 during his All-American collegiate career at Kansas.
Dawn: I had the pleasure of covering the track exploits of Dawn Harper throughout her stellar high school career at East St. Louis. Despite battling injuries, she was a six-time state champion and one of best hurdlers in the nation. So, it was exciting to see her in the Olympic finals of the 100-meter high hurdles in 2008. When the favorite Lolo Jones stumbled in the last 20 meters with a big lead, Harper led a mad rush of athletes across the finish line to win the gold medal. It was a tight finish, but I remember yelling, “Dawn Won It! Dawn Won It!!
The Albatross: There’s nothing like a great swimming relay to get the Olympics going during the first week. My favorite relay race of all time was the men’s 4×200 freestyle relay at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. It came down to the USA and West Germany, which featured the legendary Michael Gross, who was nicknamed “The Albatross.” The USA had a big lead when they turned to their anchor leg Bruce Hayes. However, Gross made up that distance quickly and took the lead for the Germans. But Hayes battled back and the two battled stroke for stroke all the way to the end with Hayes touching first and winning gold for the USA. Just like the crowd in the swimming venue, I’m at home screaming, “COME ON BRUCE!!!”
I look forward to watching and enjoying some more Olympic memories in the next few weeks.