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16 inspiring stories mia cassany iker ayestaran
Gerry López Honolulu, Hawaii (USA), 1948 One could almost say that Gerry López was born with a surfboard under his arm. At the age of 7 he began to surf some important waves and in a very short time he became one of the youngest surfers to master the incredible and very complicated waves of Pipeline, a spot that became world-famous in the 70s, where the bravest and most daring surfers gathered, coming from all corners of the world to try and surf the biggest waves ever seen. Gerry soon realized that with the long boards that were used at the time it was easy for him to master the waves, but being a curious kid, and very eager to learn, he decided that he would start improvising; he created a short board,
more agile, but also more complicated to use. With these new boards the movements were sharp and Gerry moved among the waves with total naturalness, as if he was playing with them. It was so beautiful, this dance between surfer and waves, that many others began to follow his steps, unknowingly creating the surf as we know it today. As Gerry himself says, “life, just like the waves, is changeable, and you must learn to dance to its tune, or it will pass you by, you must be spontaneous and always want more and try to go further”.
Edurne Pasaban Tolosa, Gipuzkoa (Spain), 1972 Edurne Pasaban became the first woman to reach the 14 eight-thousanders, the highest mountains on earth: the most difficult challenge for any mountaineer. Although achieving it requires almost ten years of will power and overcoming. Her first expedition to the Himalayas was in 1998, when she tried to climb her first eight-thousanders. In this attempt she ended up only 272 meters from the summit due to the amount of snow accumulated, which did not allow her to go any further. She had to wait nine years to reach the summit. She faced the same problem on Mount Everest: it wasn’t until her third attempt that she made it to the top, becoming the third Spanish woman to achieve this goal.
In her seventh eight-thousandth, she suffered a severe frostbite during the descent and did not manage to finish either; this plunged her into a deep sadness, and for the first time in her life, Edurne was on the verge of giving up, dropping mountaineering and leaving the mountains behind, forever. But her courage and her sense of achievement prevailed, and a year later she returned with more strength than ever for the remaining eight-thousanders, having learned the most important lesson in life: reaching the top is not only about overcoming a difficult route, but also about understanding that in order to win we must accept to lose, sometimes.
Jackie Robinson Cairo, Georgia (USA), 1919 Stamford, Connecticut (USA), 1972 Although there’s no doubt that Jackie Robinson was one of the greatest sportsmen and one of the best-known figures in the baseball world, where he really became a legend was in the actions and movements he took part in favour of civil rights during the 1960s. He was a baseball legend, and from a very young age all scouts sensed his potential. No team could afford to turn him down, so he ended up becoming the first AfricanAmerican player to be able to participate in what is known as the big tent, Major League Baseball. During the first games he suffered all kinds of insults and got teased, even by his own team’s fans, which did not accept an African-American among their players. They even threw black cats at him to bring him bad luck. But Jackie never paid attention to any of this, never gave up and kept playing more and better every day, proving that the anger of some people who were wrong would not affect him or his dream of becoming a professional baseball player. Thanks to his persistence and bravery, he won the respect from many players. At one of Jackie’s campaigns, which was full of journalists, but where only insults were heard from the audience, his teammate, Pee Wee Reese, came up to him, hugged him and shouted, “You can hate a man for many reasons. Skin colour is not one of them”. The 15th of April 1947, Jackie made his debut with the Dodgers; fifty years later, all the teams from the MLB decided to remove Jackie’s number, 42, a symbol that baseball isn’t just for white people. Besides, every 15th of April it is remembered this change in history and every player from all team plays with the number 42.
Andre Agassi Las Vegas, Nevada (USA), 1970 Andre Agassi did not enjoy playing tennis. He didn’t even like it, and he would never have chosen to play tennis, and much less pursuing it professionally. But it turned out that tennis did like Andre Agassi, very much indeed. Andre’s father decided for him and was determined to make him a famous tennis figure, no matter what the cost, and Agassi paid dearly for it. Forced to train during all hours of the day and sometimes even at night, with no time to play with friends or have fun, he soon learned that in order to keep his father happy he only had to win matches. And he won game after game.
He played with rage and intensity, which increased his followers’ admiration and envy towards his apparently successful life. With every racket shot he learned, wrongly, that the image you give is the only things that matters, even if it has nothing to do with what you feel inside. He wanted to show his rebelliousness, by playing important matches in jeans, or wearing a striking blonde wig, to hide the fact that he was losing hair. Luckily, the young Agassi calmed down with time, and started understanding that showing our weaknesses and that only makes us stronger.
Pelé Minas Gerais (Brazil), 1940 Edson Arantes do Nascimento, internationally known as Pelé, was born in one of the poorest places in Brazil, surrounded by the love of his family. He shared his father’s passion for football. In 1950 the World Cup final lost by Brazil to Uruguay marked him forever, as he saw his father, who was a joyful man, crying and utterly sad about the defeat. There, in front of everyone, he promised that he would win the championship, and dedicate it to his father. Nobody believed that this boy, without resources and with nothing in his favour, would be an example of perseverance and that he would achieve the unachievable dream. A hard training, but above all a fighting spirit, which made him never give up, led Pelé to win the world championship he had promised his father, not just once, but three times, making him the player with the most championship wins. Many years later, when he was already a football legend and recognized all over the world, his father died and his mother wanted to give Pelé the old shoe shine kit he used as a kid, in which there still was a coin, his first salary ever. His mother kept it there all these years, knowing that his son had fought hard to succeed; in this beautiful way she reminded her son of where he had come from and how far he had arrived, and it is all thanks to his perseverance. Dreams come true!
Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi Ponte a Ema (Italy), 1914 – 2000 | Castellania (Italy), 1919 – Tortona (Italy), 1960 It is believed that there can be no real and beautiful competition without a strong rivalry and this is precisely what these two Italian cyclists offered during their whole career. They were both the best and competed for all the Giros, Tours and trophies: they pedalled side by side, and always raced, one in the shadow of the other. Moreover, as if they were characters from a film,
they were perfect opponents; Bartali was conservative and reliable, with clear intentions and strategies, very traditional. An elegant Italian with good manners and impeccable style. On the other hand there was Coppi; unpredictable and melancholic. He ran depending on the inspiration of the moment, he was shy but revolutionary with his ideas. The perfect combination to make the public choose between one or the other.
Coppi won the Giro d’Italia five times and the Tour de France twice. Bartali managed to win the Giro three times and also won the Tour twice, although it wasn’t until after his death that his greatest achievement was discovered. During the Second World War he carried false passports, hidden inside his bike, with which he was able to save and help more than 800 Jews! Although it is not known for sure, there are many people who claim that Bartali only shared this secret with his biggest rival, who never gave him away.
Katherine Switzer Amberg (Germany), 1947 This girl proved not only to be fast, but also to be brave, as she was the first woman to participate in a marathon with a dorsal. Until 1967 the Boston Marathon had been reserved only for men, and if a woman decided to run a piece or even do the whole course, she had to do so without wearing a dorsal, meaning she didn’t participate in the competition, officially: women did not count. Katherine wanted to compete, and wanted a dorsal to prove it. During the race one of the commissioners, Jock Semple, tried to stop her. He even shouted: “Get out of my race, and give me back my dorsal!” But he couldn’t catch her because her boyfriend, along with other participants, created a barrier to make sure Katherine could
make it to the end. During the race she was photographed as the great curiosity, pursued to prevent her from going on, and finally disqualified when she crossed the finish line. But this wouldn’t make the runner lose heart, quite the opposite. This was only the beginning of her journey as a true professional runner, winning the 1974 New York City Marathon, and finishing second in the 1975 Boston Marathon, where she achieved her best mark with a time of 2 hours, 51 minutes and 37 seconds. She knew and proved that running was a girl’s thing, too. And, because of that, for more than 40 years she has been one of the most important activists in the female sport, and thanks to her achievements and her fight, after many years and lot of effort she managed to make it possible for all women to compete in a marathon.
Harry Vardon Grouville, Jersey (United Kingdom), 1870 Totteridge (United Kingdom), 1937 Harry Vardon is considered the first celebrity in the world of golf and undoubtedly one of the most influential players in this sport, since decades later there are still many fans who learn to play using his techniques. At a time when participating professionally in a sport could be more of a liability than a pleasure, as it involved a lot of effort, Harry Vardon decided that he had to have fun in order to play well. Golf is, indeed, a very technical sport. Like all the sports, it has its own strict rules, but, although at that time we must say that the most restrictive thing in this sport was the uncomfortable clothing that golfers had to wear. These clothes hardly allowed them to move and caused their movements to be forced and complicated, until Harry appeared. Tired of that much tension, Harry began to loosen up, relax and, by doing so, achieved very long, large and free movements. Nobody before him had hit the ball by raising his arm and drawing semicircles in the air, but Harry dared to try. This made the golf ball fly higher than usual and thanks to these movements he created the swing technique we know today. The tranquillity, calm, peace and above all feeling relaxed and enjoying playing a sport was what led this golfer to get the best trophies.
Patti McGee Santa Monica, California (USA), 1945 Patti, like the rest of her friends, spent her free time with a surfboard under her arm, waiting for the sea to offer them the best waves. But because it wasn’t always possible, soon the friends started looking for a formula to feel the same sensations they felt in the water on the pavement. Fun was guaranteed, and this is how skateboarding was born. Patti’s first skateboard was made of wood, and it was a present from her brother, who built it in a carpenter’s shop in their neighbourhood. Patti spent hours and hours on her first skateboard, most of the time barefoot, like if she was in the ocean. And just like that, effortless, she became USA skateboarding national champion, and also the fastest girl on a board, reaching 75 km/h.
She starred some of the most important magazine covers, like LIFE magazine, who captured her doing her legendary “handstand”, meaning, head down and only leaning on her hands. Delicate and feminine, Patti kept on doing what she loved the most, and she was the best at it, without listening to those who said that this wasn’t a girl’s sport, or that girls weren’t made to fall over and over again. Speechless, Patti’s victory was to demonstrated to the world that there are no girls or boys’ sport.
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