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Derek Redmond crossed the finish line of his 400m semi-final at the 1992 Olympics in last place, yet what occurred in the Great Britain sprinter’s lap of the track made for one of the most emotional and powerful moments in Olympic history.
Redmond, running in lane five, was charging down the back straight in Barcelona when his right hamstring failed him. It happened so suddenly and caused so much distress that it looked like a sniper had shot him. His hamstring popped, he clutched at his torn muscle, and he dropped to the track.
What followed was a remarkable lesson in refusing to quit as well as a beautiful display of parenthood.
Watch the video at the top of the page to see the remarkable moment Derek Redmond finished his 400m semi-final with the help of his dad at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics!
For several seconds, Redmond was crouched down and crying. He then brushed off an approach from Red Cross workers, picked himself up and, hobbling, continued the race. “I got up quicker than I got out of my blocks,” Redmond said. “I said to myself, ‘There’s no way I’m going to be stretchered out of these Olympics’. I didn’t know where I was. I really, really believed I could still qualify. Believe me, at the time I thought I was running. It’s only when I see the playback I realise I wasn’t actually running very quick at all.”
As Derek limped around the second bend, his dad Jim was in his own race. Jim was rushing onto the track to help his son. But Jim told his son to stop, fearing that continuing to hobble on a torn hamstring might rule him out of the 4x400m relay.
When Derek made it clear to his dad that he was hell-bent on finishing, his dad’s response was emphatic. “Well then,” Jim said, “we’re going to finish this together.” Jim put his arms around his son, whose devastation was becoming increasingly visibly, and helped him down the home straight. Officials tried to get them off the track, but Jim batted them away.
Derek’s career was plagued by injuries. At the Seoul 1988 Olympics, he had withdrawn from the 400m only two minutes before his first heat. By the time of Barcelona 1992, he had undergone five surgeries, including an Achilles tendon operation less than four months out from the Games. A couple of years after the Barcelona Games, following an 11th Achilles tendon operation, his career was over.
“Everything I had worked for was finished,” Derek said of the 1992 disaster. “I hated everybody. I hated the world. I hated hamstrings. I hated it all. I felt so bitter that I was injured again. I told myself I had to finish. I kept hopping round. Then, with 100 metres to go, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was my old man.”
The letters “DNF” are listed beside Derek’s name in the results, meaning did not finish, because his dad assisted him over the finish line.
Although Jim was shattered about what transpired in the race, he was also swelling with pride. “I’m the proudest father alive. I’m prouder of him than I would have been if he had won the gold medal,” he said. “It took a lot of guts for him to do what he did.”