06/08/2016 Witness


06/08/2016

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 06/08/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Hello, and welcome to a special edition of Witness. I'm here at

:00:00.:00:33.

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the venue of the 2012 Olympics, to bring

:00:34.:00:38.

you five inspiring stories from the history of the Olympic and

:00:39.:00:42.

Paralympic games. We will have moments of triumph and defeat, pride

:00:43.:00:46.

and agony. All told by the athletes themselves. Witness will travel to

:00:47.:00:51.

Kenya to meet a multiple world-record holder. We are in East

:00:52.:00:56.

Timor to meet the refugee who became an Olympian. And we will hear from

:00:57.:01:00.

the archer who want Britain's first-ever Paralympic medal. But we

:01:01.:01:06.

start with one of the most famous performances in Olympic history. 40

:01:07.:01:11.

years ago, Nadia Comaneci from Romania became the first units to

:01:12.:01:14.

score a perfect ten. She told Witness how she did it. -- first

:01:15.:01:18.

Olympian. I was 14 when I went to the Olympics

:01:19.:01:28.

in 1976 in Montreal. I was asked by a journalist Hadaway think I will

:01:29.:01:32.

do, and I answered, I hope I will get a medal and if possible, bold --

:01:33.:01:42.

how do I think. The routine I did on the first date was compulsory, and

:01:43.:01:45.

that is a routine everybody does. But I think the way I did it was a

:01:46.:01:52.

little bit of me then in the book. I wanted to do something people did

:01:53.:02:02.

not do before. I could hear just like, oh, well. -- wow. Faultless!

:02:03.:02:15.

Absolutely faultless! I thought I did pretty good. What do the judges

:02:16.:02:22.

say about that? There is the smile. I was hoping to get a 9.9 or

:02:23.:02:28.

something around that score. I got to see the scoreboard turning

:02:29.:02:32.

around, which showed my competition number, 07 very, and the score was

:02:33.:02:38.

1.0 zero. I thought maybe it would go up to nine. And one of my

:02:39.:02:44.

teammates made a sign to me and said I think it is something wrong with

:02:45.:02:48.

the scoreboard, but this is a ten. That is perfection! I had no idea

:02:49.:02:56.

that this is the first time in the history of the Olympics, I just knew

:02:57.:03:01.

it was the highest score you can get. I was really happy. Being in

:03:02.:03:07.

school and getting a tan and mouth! -- ten in maths! The reason I

:03:08.:03:14.

started to Gnostics is because I used to flip and do things in the

:03:15.:03:18.

house on the furniture that I was not allowed to, and a brick a couple

:03:19.:03:21.

of pieces of furniture -- gymnastics. My mum found out from

:03:22.:03:27.

friends there is a gymnastics place where kids can go. We used to do two

:03:28.:03:32.

training sessions a day, probably five or six others. I liked the

:03:33.:03:37.

challenge myself. If my coach came to me and said, I bet you can't to

:03:38.:03:42.

five of those, I would do eight. I felt free. I felt being in the air

:03:43.:03:49.

and able to turn flips, it was really cool. Now a real hush comes

:03:50.:03:53.

over the audience. One of anticipation. After my first perfect

:03:54.:03:58.

ten, I went to compete on the balance beam. Absolutely superb. I

:03:59.:04:09.

was thinking the competition is not over, think about being, think about

:04:10.:04:12.

before, think about what you have to do next. -- think about beam, think

:04:13.:04:22.

about floor. Have you seen anyone more confident on a four inch beam?

:04:23.:04:27.

Winning the Olympic Games in 1976, I managed to score seven perfect tens.

:04:28.:04:34.

When I stood on the podium and received all of the medals, I was

:04:35.:04:39.

thinking about home. I was hoping my mother and my family were able to

:04:40.:04:46.

watch me. My mum told me that she always was watching the replay. She

:04:47.:04:51.

was too scared to watch the live competition. When I see myself at

:04:52.:04:58.

14, now I get more emotional. As the years go by, I think my historic

:04:59.:05:05.

performance is getting to me much more valuable. And I understand what

:05:06.:05:14.

a big deal that was. Nadia Comaneci, who now lives in America and runs a

:05:15.:05:18.

gymnastics school. Some athletes train from an early age for a Libbi

:05:19.:05:22.

Gorr medals, and for others it is an achievement just to get to the

:05:23.:05:27.

games. Take a Agueda Amaral from East Timor, she became a refugee

:05:28.:05:31.

during unrest in her country. But a year later, she got an invitation to

:05:32.:05:38.

take part in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

:05:39.:06:22.

The individual Olympic flags, now coming from East Timor, a country

:06:23.:06:31.

with no government, and the United Nations control.

:06:32.:08:17.

A little celebration. Goes down onto her knees. She has a lot to go. She

:08:18.:08:25.

thinks she is finished, and the judges as saying, sorry about that,

:08:26.:08:27.

you have to go again. What a response. Absolutely

:08:28.:08:39.

wonderful. This is what the Olympic Games are all about.

:08:40.:09:29.

Agueda Amaral, taking Witness for a run in East Timor. This year, there

:09:30.:09:36.

will be a whole team of refugees following in her footsteps and

:09:37.:09:41.

running and to the Olympic flag. Nowadays, the Paralympics is a huge

:09:42.:09:44.

part of the sporting calendar, that things were very different first

:09:45.:09:48.

time the event was held in Rome in 1960. We have been finding out more

:09:49.:09:53.

from one of Britain's first Paralympic -- Paralympic ins.

:09:54.:10:00.

In 1959, I was working in Malawi, involved in a car accident, when I

:10:01.:10:09.

became paralysed and was brought to Stoke Mandeville Hospital in

:10:10.:10:13.

England, and from then, my life changed dramatically. The director

:10:14.:10:20.

of the union was Ludwig Goodman, and his idea was movement. People just

:10:21.:10:28.

not allowed to live there, becoming ill and miserable -- lie there.

:10:29.:10:35.

Paralysis keeps the 200 contestants in wheelchairs, but it can't prevent

:10:36.:10:39.

them from being sportsmen. They just wait down I happen to be quite good

:10:40.:10:43.

at archery, and I used to wind the monthly competition quite often. In

:10:44.:10:51.

1960, I was lucky and surprised to be invited to be in the team to go

:10:52.:10:55.

to the very first international sports event for wheelchair people

:10:56.:10:58.

in Rome. To the Vatican where 350 paralysed

:10:59.:11:09.

people completed in what they have called the Paralympic Games.

:11:10.:11:17.

The Olympics had just taken place and we were going to stay in the

:11:18.:11:20.

early big village in the same accommodation. To our horror, when

:11:21.:11:27.

we arrived on the ground, all the buildings were up on stilts.

:11:28.:11:33.

Whenever we went in or out of a building these two soldiers would

:11:34.:11:38.

carry us up two flights of stairs and down two flights of stairs. It

:11:39.:11:48.

was a very tedious business. During the whole of the Games there was

:11:49.:11:53.

such a togetherness. Everybody making new friends, it was great,

:11:54.:12:09.

and we just supported each other. Artery was one of the first to

:12:10.:12:13.

begin. We would shoot six arrows each. -- archery. And then a little

:12:14.:12:20.

army of people, one for each target, would rush up to the target and

:12:21.:12:24.

collect the arrows and the same thing happened again. I have no idea

:12:25.:12:29.

what my score was. And then I was allowed to go off and watch other

:12:30.:12:40.

people doing different events. Then we were ready to go back to the

:12:41.:12:45.

village. Some people said, where is Margaret? She is needed for a medal

:12:46.:12:50.

ceremony! So they then had to lift me out of the coach, put me back

:12:51.:12:54.

into a wheelchair and I was wheeled up a little brown onto the leading

:12:55.:13:03.

position and presented with a gold medal. I wasn't really very excited

:13:04.:13:09.

about it. It had just happened everything was so who will bring. --

:13:10.:13:15.

bewildering. It was the first medal won by a British person at the first

:13:16.:13:23.

Paralympic Games. I myself managed to take part in five Paralympics

:13:24.:13:31.

over the years. It was just a marvellous experience, the whole

:13:32.:13:36.

thing. Pioneering Paralympians Margaret Maughan, with a very

:13:37.:13:41.

special memory of the London Games. Remember, you can watch Witness

:13:42.:13:45.

every month on the BBC News Channel, or you can catch up on over 1000

:13:46.:13:50.

radio programmes now -- in our online archive. Just go to the BBC

:13:51.:13:58.

website. Now to Kenya and the remarkable story of a blind

:13:59.:14:01.

Paralympians who fought back from depression to set records in every

:14:02.:14:06.

event in distance running. We went to Kenya to meet him.

:14:07.:18:01.

Henry Wanyoike there. Look out for him in this year's Paralympics,

:18:02.:18:08.

where he will be competing in a marathon. Now for the final film. We

:18:09.:18:12.

go back to the Barcelona Olympics and a story that has inspired many

:18:13.:18:17.

around the world. Derek Redmond was made famous for reasons he would

:18:18.:18:21.

rather forget. I am remembered for two things. One, for being a part of

:18:22.:18:27.

the winning relay team that defeated the Americans in the 1991 World

:18:28.:18:32.

Championships. But the most famous thing that I am known for is

:18:33.:18:35.

actually not finishing the race, and it is for the race in Barcelona.

:18:36.:18:40.

Unfortunately I had had a few injury problems, mainly with the Achilles

:18:41.:18:44.

tendon, and that hampered me through my career. But by the time I was in

:18:45.:18:49.

Barcelona I felt great. There were no issues, no problems. Derek

:18:50.:18:53.

Redmond, in the best form he has shown since he broke the British

:18:54.:18:57.

record, way back in 87. I never thinking, I'm going to win this

:18:58.:19:05.

race. The gun goes... And I had a really good start. Redmond has got

:19:06.:19:10.

off very fast. I am flowing along, things are great and then I hear a

:19:11.:19:15.

funny pop and two or three strides later is what I felt it and I felt

:19:16.:19:19.

the rip of the hamstring. Redmond has broken down! He is on the track,

:19:20.:19:26.

nearly down and Derek Redmond, the jinx has struck again. I remember

:19:27.:19:30.

having a hand on the back of the leg and collapsing onto the floor in

:19:31.:19:37.

pain. Then I remembered where I was and it was just like you're in the

:19:38.:19:43.

Olympics semi-final and that's pretty much what made me get up and

:19:44.:19:52.

start to run, or hobble, and I just bought, you know what, I am going to

:19:53.:19:56.

finish this race. It might be the last three state ever run of us I

:19:57.:20:00.

will finish it for me. I was just about to get into the home straight

:20:01.:20:05.

when I could sense this person on my left-hand side and then I heard a

:20:06.:20:11.

very familiar voice shout out, it's me, and instantly I knew who it was.

:20:12.:20:18.

It was my dad. Up until then I have managed to keep all of my emotions

:20:19.:20:23.

in and hold it together relatively well, but as soon as I saw him that

:20:24.:20:29.

was it, I lost it. I was in tears. I said, I can't believe it. Why is

:20:30.:20:35.

this happening? With his track record of injuries and maybe his

:20:36.:20:38.

only Olympic appearance, he just can't hold it. He had always been

:20:39.:20:42.

there with me and he spent many years standing on the sidelines in

:20:43.:20:45.

the middle of winter, with a copy in his hands, trying to keep warm. And

:20:46.:20:50.

all he was saying was, you are champion, you have nothing to prove.

:20:51.:20:55.

Don't worry. I just said to him, get me back into lane five, I want to

:20:56.:21:00.

finish! And the joke that I always make about that is it is the first

:21:01.:21:03.

and only time I have ever been able to shout at my dad and get away with

:21:04.:21:07.

it. Any other time, I would have got a quick smack around the ear and he

:21:08.:21:12.

would have said, less of your cheek! We still had officials trying to

:21:13.:21:16.

stop us. And they were not quite sure what to do. They said, who is

:21:17.:21:20.

this crazy man who has walked onto the track. What's going on? And

:21:21.:21:24.

right up until the point where I got over the line and walked through the

:21:25.:21:28.

line I'd had no idea what reaction it was having on the crowd. I looked

:21:29.:21:33.

around and people were going mad. People on their feet. Some of the

:21:34.:21:40.

messages and letters and stuff that I get from people, saying, you have

:21:41.:21:45.

no idea who I am, I am not in sport, I've been through some hard times, I

:21:46.:21:48.

just want to thank you for your inspiration. It is quite strange

:21:49.:21:53.

that people to this day still find it inspiring. It is a nice feeling,

:21:54.:22:01.

but I've done some into help so many people in their own ways. There was

:22:02.:22:05.

an outside chance that I would have to battle for gold. Does it make up

:22:06.:22:09.

for that? I have to be honest and say no. British Olympian Derek

:22:10.:22:13.

Redmond bringing an end to this special edition of Witness, from

:22:14.:22:19.

London. Next month we will have another round-up of history, as told

:22:20.:22:24.

by the people who were there. For now, from me and the rest of the

:22:25.:22:26.

team, goodbye.

:22:27.:22:45.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS