Fallen Heroes

Most of you who know me know that, pre-children, I was an avid runner. Indeed, I ran track all three seasons throughout high school. And even though I don't run now, I still consider myself a runner.

When I was in high school and college, Mary Decker was America's top female runner in my events. She just tore up the track. In fact, I traveled to Los Angeles for the 1984 Olympics just to see her run. I managed to get tickets somehow and visited my grandfather, who lived in Los Angeles at the time. I used to run with my grandfather too, and was so incredibly excited that he and I were going to go see Mary Decker run. The day my grandfather and I went to watch the 1984 Olympics - to watch my hero Mary Decker run - is a day that's indelibly etched in my memory.

Then the race. If I remember correctly, it was the 3,000 meter, which was my favorite distance in high school There they were, all on the starting line. The shot of the gun, signaling the beginning of the race and they're off. Mary Decker quickly found herself boxed in. Zola Budd of South Africa (running on the British team having fenagled a British citizenship at the 11th hour based on a very distant relative) was running, barefoot, directly in front of her. Having been boxed in once during a race, I felt this lump in the pit of my stomach. Being boxed in is horrible. You can't move; you're stuck. You can't get around them and it messes up your pace. Here was my hero - boxed in. Then it happened - Mary Decker tripped on Zola Budd's foot and fell. She went down. No medal for Mary Decker. I saw her fall. It seemed like the entire stadium gasped. And instead of getting up and continuing to run, she decided to get off the track. What? Keep running, Mary! Even if you come in last, you have to finish! She walked straight to her coach and the American team lodged a complaint against Zola Budd.

In my eyes, my hero had fallen. What I saw, in my opinion, was very unsportsmanlike. Zola didn't cause Mary Decker to fall. Mary Decker caused Mary Decker to fall. In fact, Mary hurt Zola by clipping her bare foot. Mary, the American favorite on American soil, played her trump card against Zola who was just trying to run a fair race. And that really bothered me.

Many years later, I learned that Mary Decker Slaney tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and had probably been using them her entire career. I was crushed. I envied her speed. I relished her wins. With the exception of her poor behavior at the 1984 Olympics, I admired her. She was my hero. And then I learned that she had been cheating the entire time. It crushed me.

This past July, all of us were watching the Tour de France. Raj and I became avid fans of The Tour while watching Lance Armstrong win these past several years. This year, with Lance retired from the race, it promised to be a more dramatic Tour. Drama we got after watching our favorite team, Discovery, fall by the wayside and watching our other favorite, Floyd Landis, plow up the mountain. The drama continued when Floyd lost steam in the 16th stage and fell from first place to 11th overall. Then the very next day, stage 17, Floyd crushed his opponents in an amazing feat of strength and speed. That day we saw our all-American boy-next-door, the kid with the wholesome Mennonite upbringing, perform a phenomenal feat - while keeping his eye on the goal of winning the Tour. We watched him reach the podium in Paris in the yellow jersey and we triumphed and celebrated his victory with him. And we showed, through Floyd Landis, to our children what hard work and preserverence can do.

Then, we learn that our hero, Floyd Landis, cheated while climbing the mountain that day on Stage 17. He had taken performance enhancing drugs. Our hero had fallen.

Both Mary Decker and Floyd Landis lost sight of one important thing: if you have to cheat to win, you didn't win. They deceived themselves, the public, their competitors, and the people who believed in them, who looked up to them. In the end, even if you've manage to lie to the entire world that you deserved the win, you still have to live with yourself and the knowledge that you did not earn it honestly. It's a lie. It's just not worth it. It's not worth living that lie. It's not worth gaining that shiny medal object for the price of a lifetime of lies and deception.

It was a different lesson for our children than we expected.

I think instead of watching track and field or professional cycling, we'll have to watch futbol or hockey - or some other sport that utilizes teammanship and strategy -- and fairplay.