The Clean Cut: 1992 Olympian Derek Redmond crosses finish line with father

In 1992, British athlete Derek Redmond began the 400m semi-finals in the Barcelona, Spain, Olympic games with confidence.

“I remember thinking, ‘I’m going to win this race.’ The gun goes, and I had a really good start,” Redmond said in a BBC News video.

Then he heard a pop.

Early in the race, he felt his hamstring — and his dreams — give way as he fell to the track, holding his hurt leg.

In the BBC News video, Redmond was interviewed about the experience. As he laid on the track, he remembered that he was in the Olympic semi-finals, which is what made him get up and start to hobble to the finish line.

“I thought, ‘you know what? I’m going to finish this race. It might be the last race I ever run, so I’m going to finish it,’” Redmond remembered.

That was when he heard a familiar voice next to him — it was his father, who came down from the stands to be at his son’s side and support him to the finish line. Redmond said that his father had always been there with him throughout his training, faithfully standing on the sidelines.

“All he was saying was, ‘Look you’ve got nothing to prove. You’re a champion to us. You’ll be back, don’t worry. We’ll do this together,’” Redmond said.