As many of you know, I am a history buff.  I love learning about the past...sometimes just for fun, but sometimes for the specific lessons we can learn.  This is a lesson we can all be reminded of, and a story that I had forgotten until I found it again online...

Way back in the 1968 Olympics, Bob Beamon set a long jump record that many thought would never be broken, but eventually it was.

A young boxer named George Foremen won a gold medal and paraded around the ring with an American flag, instilling pride in many Americans.

But, one athlete named John Stephen Akhwari from Tanzania, a marathon runner, probably made the longest lasting impression on people during those Olympics.

While he was running his race, he stumbled and fell, severely injuring his knee and ankle. After receiving first aid, he did what no one expected and he got back in the race. Long after everyone else had finished and left, he limped into the near empty stadium to the cheers of a small crowd that was still there and he finished his final lap.

When asked why he continued the race after he was so badly hurt with no chance to win, he replied: "My country did not send me 7,000 miles to begin a race - they sent me to finish the race".