The incredible story of Ervin!Reported by Deccan Herald on Tuesday, 3 July 2012 (on July 3, 2012)
|
*It took Anthony Ervin less than 22 seconds on Sunday to complete one of the most unlikely comebacks in American swimming.
*Twelve years after he won gold and silver medals at the Sydney Olympics and almost a decade after he quit the sport, Ervin is heading back to the biggest show in sports and swimming faster than ever.
Now 31, Ervin said he surprised himself by making it back to the Olympics but had no expectations of adding to the two medals he won in 2000.
"I just want to have a good time. I just want to keep this fun train chugging," he said. "Whether I can land one or not, I hope so. I'm going to try my best. But I can't control what anyone else is doing. There are incredible swimmers around the world that will be there. All I can promise is I'm going to do what I can."
In his previous career, Ervin twice stunned the swimming world. The first time was in Australia when he was just 19. The first African-American to represent the US in an Olympic team, he won the men's 50 metres freestyle final, dead-heating with his best friend and team-mate Gary Hall Jr.
He also won a silver in the relay and a year later he completed the 50-100m sprint double at the world championships in Japan.
He seemed destined for more greatness but surprised everyone in 2003 when he suddenly hung up his goggles, saying he was fed up with swimming and wanted to find more meaning in his life.
He auctioned off his two Olympic medals to raise money for the relief fund for the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and worked odd jobs until he waded back into swimming, as an assistant coach in California.
Then last year, he decided to make a comeback as a competitor and it did not take long to pick up where he left off.
Few expected him to make the team for London but he surprised the doubters when he qualified fastest for Sunday's 50m final, a frantic splash and dash where the length of a finger can be the difference between winning and losing.
Ervin did lose the final, by 0.01 seconds to Cullen Jones, but he finished second in 21.60, faster than when he won gold in Sydney, to earn an unlikely trip to London Olympics.
"I touched the wall and then I looked at the scoreboard, but I couldn't tell what happened," he said.
"I wasn't sure what happened, and then someone looked at me and said 'You made it!' So it was overwhelming relief," Ervind said with relief.
Links:  Full news story
|
|
|
| Recent related news |
| |
PRWeb
1 day ago | Tech start-up Active in Time's swimming app Splashpath goes global with new deal with... |
Huffington Post
3 days ago | The opening scene in "Up"; Tom Cruise's heart-stopping climb up the Burj Khalifa in "Mission:... |
DailyFinance
4 days ago | Filed under: Investing
LONDON -- For the last few months I've been working my way through the FTSE... |
guardian.co.uk
4 days ago | Think of LA in the 1980s, and you think of hair metal. But elsewhere, the Bangles, the Dream... |
guardian.co.uk
5 days ago | Mike Skinner is relinquishing the frontman role in his new project, the DOT – to former the Music... |
| |
guardian.co.uk
5 days ago | Europa League final win would mean keeper has claimed every major club honour despite having eight... |
Huffington Post
6 days ago | I have been fascinated by nonhuman primates ever since I was a little boy growing up in the Bronx.... |
guardian.co.uk
1 week ago | Peer alleged to have blamed Jewish conspiracy for jail term he received for dangerous driving offence... |
Huffington Post
1 week ago | LONDON -- J.J. Abrams is master of one universe – and he's about to try conquering another.
The... |
Business Insider
1 week ago | Like its six predecessors, Star Wars: Episode VII will be filmed in the United Kingdom, Lucasfilm... |
| |
|
|
Facebook
E-mail
Twitter
Mixx
StumbleUpon
FriendFeed