The Last-Place Winner

::::::::::REWRITE  IN  PROGRESS::::::::::

Back in 1998 I was inspired to write about something I had seen during the coverage of the Winter Olympic Games held in Nagano, Japan. Although the event has long since past, I think that this story of the triumph of the human spirit and the example of sportsmanship and compassion can still be inspiring today.
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The Olympic motto, "Citius, Altius, Fortius," is Latin for "Faster, Higher, Braver," but is universally accepted to mean "Swifter, Higher, Stronger."

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Many of us have been caught up in the excitement, the sportsmanship, and the celebration of the XVIII Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan. We probably all have our favorite sports that we like to watch and our favorite athletes that we hope will do well. What feats of human strength and endurance will these great athletes accomplish that will win them Olympic triumph...the thrill of standing on the Olympic podium to receive their gold, silver, or bronze medal?

I myself have been watching, breathlessly enthralled, as the figure skaters display their grace and beauty on the ice. I have been fascinated by the bumpy ride and smooth flowing jumps of the participants in the moguls skiing events. And who of us watching the games last night did not gasp and feel our heart pound in our chest as we saw some of the best in the sport loose their hold and go flying from the course of the Men's Downhill Skiing event?

Much to my own surprise, however, my inspiration last night did not come from watching my favorite ice skaters work their magic on the ice, but from a sport I have never tried myself, know little or nothing about, and that has never particularly interested me much to find out about: Cross County Skiing. And as an even bigger surprise, this is a story that is inspired by not only a winner in this sport, but most peculiarly by the last place finisher of the event, Philip Boit.

The rainy weather that has been hanging over the Nagano games made the course for the Men's 10 Km Classical Cross Country Event very hard for the athletes to maneuver. These men had trained hard and been tested before they qualified for the Olympic Team, and even so, it was a difficult race.

Recently disappointed by his 20th place finish in the Men's 30 Km event, five time gold medallist, Bjorn Daehlie of Norway, was determined to do his best in this event. The wrong skis had been his downfall in the 30 Km event and he was not going to make that mistake again! And so it was that they set off on their trek through the snow covered course of flat areas, twists, turns, hills and slopes, each man determined to make the best time he was capable of...these men, the best their countries had to offer...competing for the glory of Olympic Gold!

Yet, among the best, there was a man many expected would not finish at all...in fact, it is an amazing idea in and of itself that he would even be at the winter games because this athlete is from a country that knows no snow!

Kenya, land of elephants, giraffes, rhinoceroses, zebras, and lions. This tropical region on the east cost of Africa is bisected by the equator. It is hot, and humid, with beautiful sandy beaches, murky swamps, patches of rainforest, and peaceful lagoons. It is hard to imagine a man from this country participating in the Winter Olympic Games! Yet, here he was, ready to take on the same course as one of the most highly decorated cross-country skiers the world has ever known!

Philip Boit, the entire delegation of Winter Games Athletes from the African Country of Kenya, ready to take on the best of the best, and this after only two winters of training in Northern Europe! That, in itself, was a display of great determination, but more was yet to come.

He started off with the rest of the group and steadily fell further and further behind. Yet he continued.

Here and there he would pass others who had dropped from the race, too tired to fight the course any longer. Yet he continued.

He slipped and slid in the slushy snow. Yet he continued.

He fell and was soaked to the skin, and got back up only to fall again. Yet he continued.

Soon he was alone on the course. Those in front of him were far ahead, and there was no one continuing behind him. Yet he continued.

At some points of the course he was urged on by coaches and officials, but certainly they knew, as did Philip Boit, that the race had long since been lost. Yet he continued.

Meanwhile, Bjorn Daehlie pushed and struggled with himself, and with sweat and rain frozen on his face and in his hair, skied triumphantly over the finish line to win his sixth Olympic Gold! The crowd was wild and cheered continuously as, one after another, the racers finished their trek. Bjorn Daehlie of Norway had won the 10 Km event with a time of 27 minutes and .5 seconds! A mere 8 seconds later, Austrian Markus Gandler skied into the Silver Medal position, and he was followed closely by Mika Myllylae of Finland, whose time was 27.40.1. Mika Myllylea, incidentally, had been the Gold Medallist in the recent 30 Km event where Bjorn Daehlie had finished 20th!

During the next few minutes, skiers crossed the finish line to the cheering and horn-blowing enthusiasm of the crowds gathered to watch this event. Twenty skiers came in, and then there were thirty, and forty, and fifty...but there was still no sign of Philip Boit.

Sixty skiers crossed the finish, and then seventy and eighty! And there was no Philip Boit among them!!

The crowds began to quiet down and the fans began to leave. The skiers began to pack up their gear and, with their coaches and families, return to Nagano to the Olympic Village. Yet Bjorn Daehlie stayed at the finish line, skies on his feet, watching and waiting. Ninety skiers had crossed the line, ninety-one, ninety-two, and there was no Philip Boit among them.

Then a horn blew down the slope announcing another racer had arrived in the final stretch. Departing fans hurried back to the spectator area to see just who this final finisher was. Weary after the difficult race, and coming into the finish area a full 20 minutes after Gold Medal winner Bjorn Daehlie, came Philip Boit, the only athlete Kenya had ever sent to the Winter Olympic Games. He knew he was the last to finish, yet he held his head high, a proud smile of triumph and determination emblazoned on his dark face as he approached the finish line and the waiting arms of six-time Olympic Gold Medal winner Bjorn Daehlie! There they stood, facing each other, the first place finisher and the 93rd place finisher, their eyes locked on each other. Worlds apart when you compared their upbringing, their countries, and their physical appearance, but they shared the identical smile of triumph...Bjorn Daehlie, having finished first and Philip Boit having finished at all! And as the remaining fans cheered with renewed strength at this beautiful display of human spirit and sportsmanship, Bjorn heartily patted Philip on the back, congratulating him on a job well done and the triumph he had there achieved at the finish line of the Men's 10 Km Cross Country Event of the XVIII Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.

While we may not all participate in sports, and most of us will never get to such a celebrated level as to compete at the Olympic Games, we can still learn a lot from this experience. From Bjorn Daehlie we can learn that the strength of our disappointments can push us on to accomplish other things. He had set out to win the Men's 30 Km Event but finished 20th because of choosing the wrong skis for the conditions. From his failure we can learn that even when we are good at something we might not always be the best, and we have to be prepared for anything. From his victory we can learn that, even though we may have been let down before, we have to keep going back out and trying again to reach our goal.

And from Philip Boit we can learn other valuable lessons. No matter how impossible it seems, if we set our mind to something and work at it, we can reach the goal we set. He is also a great example of endurance. He continued on the course that was ahead of him though he saw others who were better at the sport fall by the wayside and give up the fight. He fought to reach his goal, not for the glory of Olympic Gold, Silver, or Bronze, but for the glory of finishing what he had set out to do.

And at the end, when he had run a fine race and his strong determination and will power had pushed him over that finish line, he could honestly say that he was a winner! Technically he came in last. Many would say he had lost the race. Yet, Philip Boit IS a winner! He is a winner because he never gave up on himself. He didn't quit when the going was tough, but fought to attain his goal. He reached the finish line...he may not have won the struggle against any of the other skiers that day, but he had conquered one of the greatest foes the human spirit ever comes up against: ITSELF. In my book, Philip Boit will go down as a true Olympic Hero. And as for Bjorn Daehlie? What an excellent model of sportsmanship and human compassion! He, too, is a winner of grand proportion. He came in first, struggling to stay on the lead and win the race against the other racers and against himself. And while we often see the winners congratulating the other medal winners at the games and at other competitions, how many times have we ever seen the winner wait to pat the last place finisher on the back and tell him he did well? None that I remember! Yes, Bjorn Daehlie will go down in my book of Olympic Heroes right alongside of Philip Boit. But more than that, I will remember both of them when ever I think of the triumph of human spirit over adversity and the need we all have for the compassion, support, and love of our fellowman.

Here's to Bjorn Daehlie and Philip Boit! Two great examples of sportsmanship, determination, and humanity!

Deborah L. Kloeppel, February 13, 1998