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Seamstress
Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
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Jul 10, 2013 - 01:33pm PT
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Pat Griskus, the Timex embodiment and spokesman who took a licking and kept on ticking. He was an amputee runner in the dark ages of prosthetic devices. He set many records and was the first leg amputee to complete the Hawaiian Ironman. He completed it twice. To date, no other amputee has matched that. He was killed in Hawaii training for his third ironman, hit by a cement truck while he was riding his bike.
Pat ran all distances. I could not touch him at any distance shorter than 5 miles. Longer distances became more problematic for him due to the ill-fitting prosthetics. He attampted the Western States and had to drop out due to the awful condition of his stump 30+ miles into the race.
Pat's accomplishments changed the way runners perceived amputees. He was a gifted athlete who delighted in competition. His example motivated many amputees to see all that is possible. Today's generation of powerhouse amputees often site Pat as their inspiration.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Jul 10, 2013 - 01:58pm PT
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I wish someone would post the Pervitin ad from the calender Sheridan Anderson did for Summit.
Herman Ghoul, alpine daredevil.
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Jul 10, 2013 - 01:58pm PT
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If one single performance counted I agree with Reilly - it had to be Bob Beamon
and within American climbing it had to be Lynn Hill freeing the Nose
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Jul 10, 2013 - 02:09pm PT
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Carlton Fisk is my best friends uncle.
Just as cool, my best friends dad is Rick Miller, a gold glover for the Red Sox.
This means nothing, just sharing a cool connection I have with baseball.
I think Honnolds Triple is the single most astounding feat I've ever heard of.
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Jul 10, 2013 - 03:48pm PT
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You know, when I saw the title for this thread, even before clicking on it, I instantly thought of Abebe Bikila.
When I think of inspiring athletes, I tend to think of runners. Someone already mentioned Emil Zapotec. But there's also Paavo Nurmi, who was nearly his equal. Billy Mills' darkhouse victory in the 10K at the Tokyo Olympics was pretty stunning. Even Usain Bolt's recent wins are pretty staggering.
I'd mention cycling but it's come under such a dark cloud that alot of people will discount great rides as drug fueled (even though one of Hermann Buhl's great climbs, Nanga Parbat, was drug assisted). Despite that, it's hard to looking critically at something like Andy Hampsten's win up the Gavia in a blizzard. Just mind blowing.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Jul 10, 2013 - 03:48pm PT
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The Queen?
Substance abuse??
WTF???
One of the joys of a self-edited forum is the phenomenon of posters who are so grammatically inept that only they know what they are talking about.
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Jul 10, 2013 - 03:58pm PT
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Jul 10, 2013 - 04:00pm PT
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That's like comparing a game of tiddlywinks to someone climbing 5.13
Be careful there! My main climbing partner since the 1960's, Tim Schiller, captained the World Championship MIT Tiddlywinks team in the early 1970's, and ended up as the celebrity guest on "To Tell The Truth." I don't believe he ever climbed 5.13, though.
As for Olympics performances, to me it's a five-way tie between Jesse Owens, Beamon, Zatopec, Herb Elliot in the 1960 1500m, and Tommie Smith in the 1968 200m. (I'm obviously partial to track & field). Beamon's jump stands alone for me, though, because he was so far beyond the previous record, and it took decades to exceed it. Elliot and Smith posted similar marks. Their world and Olympic records both stood for a very long time.
I need to mention Al Oerter as well, though. Although he's not the only four-time gold medalist in a field event, (Carl Lewis won four times in the long jump) I think he could easily have been a five-time winner, since he had one of the best marks (if not the best mark) in 1980, years after "retirement," but couldn't compete when Carter boycotted the Moscow Games.
Honorable mention to Chris Brasher, who was the "rabbit" for Roger Bannister's first four-minute mile, the Melbourne Olympic champion in the Steeplechase, and a good climber.
John
Edit: Gary, I see we were thinking alike in the 200m. I'll have a very hard time ever forgiving the NCAA for the racist penalty they imposed on San Jose State in 1969. They told SJS that a meet was sanctioned, then pulled the sanction without telling Bud Winter or the school. They then put them on probation for competing in a non-sanctioned meet. Pigs!
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Travis Haussener
Trad climber
Salt Lake City
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Jul 10, 2013 - 04:42pm PT
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Have to agree with K-man here...I've run a 50k, thrown a football, etc etc...but I have no idea how any human can eat 69 hot dogs...seriously 6_9 dogs I can barely eat 2.
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zBrown
Ice climber
Brujo de La Playa
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Jul 10, 2013 - 04:54pm PT
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Paavo Nurmi.
Nurmi set 22 official world records at distances between 1,500 metres and 20 kilometres, and won a total of nine gold and three silver medals in his twelve events in the Olympic Games. At his peak, Nurmi was undefeated at distances from 800 m upwards for 121 races. Throughout his 14-year career, he remained unbeaten in cross country events and the 10,000 m.
Most interestingly, he was name after my mom's cat.
EDIT: Sorry Marlow, I hadn't seen your post. Gonna leave this though since I like the photo and not many know the story about his name.
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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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Jul 10, 2013 - 05:08pm PT
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2008 Phelps
8 gold medals and swept every race he entered. Recent history but still ridiculously dominant that year. 6 individual golds. 7 out those 8 were world records.
22 total Olympic medals 18 of which are Gold.
Mark Spitz arguably just as dominant.
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zBrown
Ice climber
Brujo de La Playa
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Jul 10, 2013 - 05:45pm PT
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Don't forget Walt Stack (he had a real job).
Walt Stack (1908 – January 19, 1995) was a hod carrier by trade and an icon of the San Francisco, California, running community by popular acclaim. Stack ran approximately 62,000 miles (100,000 km) in his lifetime. Even in his 70s and 80s, Stack ran many more marathons and 50-mile (80 km) ultramarathons than all but a few of his running peers
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Gene
climber
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Jul 10, 2013 - 06:33pm PT
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I just watched that John Gill training video. He must have more time off the ground than most professional pilots.
g
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stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
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Jul 10, 2013 - 06:36pm PT
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How about Louis Zamperini? Ran a 4:12 mile back in 1938. Probably would have broken the 4:00 mile well ahead of Bannister, but ended up in WW2 where he spent 47 days adrift on a boat and then a bunch of time as a POW.
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Jul 10, 2013 - 07:02pm PT
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Fu Mingxia won four Gold Medals at the Olympics for diving. IIRC in one event in 1996 she had third place after all the other divers had done their three dives, and she had only done two. I was hoping she'd do a cannonball for the gold.
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divad
Trad climber
wmass
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Jul 10, 2013 - 07:17pm PT
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Ok, can't touch these:
1. Franz Klammer winning the '76 Olympic Downhill in front of his
countrymen after the racer before him set the course record.
2. Reggie Jackson in the '77 World Series, hitting three homeruns in a row,
all on the first pitch.
3. Secretariat winning the '73 Belmont by 31 lenghts.
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aspendougy
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Jul 10, 2013 - 07:21pm PT
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Stephen Redgrave won gold medals for rowing in five separate Olympic Games. He was asked how he could keep at that level for 20 years, and he said that there is nothing he loves more than rowing a boat on the Thames.
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