Just found this great quote from Roger Bannister in a commencement address by Dr Steven Gabbe, MD:
'When I decided to speak about Roger Bannister, I wrote to him and asked what message he would want me to convey. He directed me to a quote and to his training schedule. First, the quote,
"However ordinary each of us may seem, we are all in some way special and can do things that are extraordinary, perhaps until then even thought impossible.
"When the broad sweep of life is viewed, sport, though instinctive, physical and ephemeral, illustrates a universal truth that most of us find effort and struggle deeply satisfying, harnessing almost primeval instincts to fight, to survive. It gives us all a challenge, a sense of purpose and freedom of choice. It is increasingly difficult to find this in our restricted twenty-first-century lives.
"The particular target we seek may not be important. But what is important is the profoundly satisfying effort in thought, feeling and hard work necessary to achieve this success."
"Four Laps, Four Minutes, Four Years"
Commencement Speech, May 19, 2006
Steven G. Gabbe, MD
Dean, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine,
found online here.
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Specially liked the Bannister quote. I think that applies especially to Jonathan Edwards who proved that a "normal" skinny bloke can be a world beater.
He is the opposite of Michael Johnson who is anything but ordinary. He found that winning everything and beating everyone out of sight was merely a matter of fine tuning his immense physical ability to circumstances that most would find overwhelming. In big Bren's words (Brendan Foster, that is)he was able to "control his own greatness".
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