Never Accept Defeat: Lee Bae-young

 
 
 
 
 
 
This is Lee Bae-young, an Olympic weight lifter from Korea, and my new personal hero.

Lee Bae-young was in second place after the Snatch competition but I watched him lose all hope of a medal a few days ago with this final attempt at lifting 186kg during the Clean & Jerk. He tore a calf muscle on his first attempt (at 184kg) and then increased the weight to 186kg on the second attempt to get a little more time to recover. He failed on the second attempt as well. By the third attempt, everybody in the crowd was hoping he'd somehow do the impossible. I was too. He hobbled out on a tender ankle, committed himself to the lift, and then hoisted it into the air. He lost control of the weight right after the squat and gravity took over. Even as the barbell rolled across the floor, he refused to let go, his body dragging behind it.

That image of him clinging to the bar as it (and any chance of a medal) rolled away from him is etched on my brain. I've been haunted by these images ever since. It's not so much that he failed; it's how he refused to let go, even as he took it to his knees, even as it dragged him across the floor. When faced with the impossible, he still committed himself to it 100% and never let go, even when the impossible became the inevitable.

I wish I had the heart that Lee Bae-young showed the world on this day. I wish I attacked my challenges with the same fighting spirit Lee Bae-young did, even in the face of the impossible. Because all of us fail at some time or another, but few of us meet defeat the same way Lee Bae-young did: fighting and clawing for that dream the whole way down.