The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing have been exciting and inspiring so far. While there have been several athletes, teams and moments that have been inspirational for me (one is listed below), I’ve also thought of stories from past competitions. Everybody has their own favorites, but these are a few of mine:

• Derek Redmond, competing for the UK, 1992, Track & Field: After training for years, focusing all of his attention on preparing for the Olympics, suffering through eight surgeries, Derek thought he was finally ready. He’d had to withdraw from the 1988 games just before they started because of injuries. Finally, the games in Spain began, and he hoped to put all those struggles behind him. Yet in the first semi-final heat of the 400 meter race, Derek tore his hamstring early in the race and fell to the track in pain. He was determined to finish the race, so he tried to get up but was having trouble. “That’s when it happened,” said pastor Tony Evans. Derek’s father came down from the stands, passed the security guards who tried to stop him, and helped his son to his feet. Together, they walked toward the finish line. The crowd noise changed from sympathetic gasps to amazed cheers. The winners had long since finished the race by the time Derek crossed the finish line, but he finished nonetheless. He didn’t win a medal, but he finished the race set before him, helped by the love and support of his father, cheered on by many supporters.

• Gabrielle Anderson-Scheiss, competing for Switzerland, 1984, Track & Field: The marathon for the Los Angeles games finished in the Coliseum, where runners ran from a tunnel out onto the track to the cheers of a huge crowd. The day of the women’s marathon, the Southern California heat was intense. Water stations were located throughout the course, and every one was important. As Gabrielle neared the end of the race, she felt OK, so she decided to skip the last water station. She approached the Coliseum, ran through the dark coolness of the tunnel, and then burst into the hot sunshine to complete the final leg of the race by running one lap around the track. All of a sudden, it was like her body fell apart. Heat exhaustion had kicked in. She staggered and lurched around the track, accompanied by medical staff who wanted to let her finish the race if at all possible. Almost 6 minutes after entering the Coliseum (a lifetime for a marathoner), she finally fell across the finish line, completely exhausted. Gabrielle didn’t win a medal either—she finished in 37th place out of 50 runners—yet she finished the race set before her. Six of those 50 runners did not finish.

• Rau’Shee Warren, competing for the USA, 2008, Boxing: Rau’Shee is the first two-time American boxing Olympian in 30 years. At the 2004 Olympics, he lost his first fight and was out of the competition. Discouraged at his early exit, he decided to remain an amateur rather than turning pro, so that he could go back to the Olympics—he wanted to win a gold medal for his mom. This week, at the ‘08 games, his first fight was against Lee Ok-Sung from South Korea. Though the fight was fairly close, Rau’Shee thought he had the lead, so as the fight neared the end, he took a more evasive, defensive stance, trying to avoid getting hit. As the crowd cheered, he thought they were saying “Move!” as in, keep moving, you’ve got the lead, don’t get punched. Instead, they were cheering him on to make a move, because he didn’t have the lead after all and time was ticking. As the last bell clanged, he finally threw a punch that could have tied the match if he’d gotten it in on time, but it was too late and didn’t count. Like Derek and Gabrielle, Rau’Shee wanted to finish his race, but rather than pushing as hard as he could like they did, he tried to coast to the end, and he lost.

Each of these competitors has agony on their face, but not necessarily for the same reason. As Randy Pausch said, “The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.”