Bob Richards - The Heart of a Champion: Inspiring True Stories of Challenge and Triumph

THE H EART OF A
C HAMPION

THE H EART OF A
CHAMPION

Inspiring True Stories of Challenge and Triumph

BOB RICHARDS

1959, 1987, 2009 by Bob Richards

Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com

Printed in the United States of America

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Richards, Bob, 1926

The heart of a champion : inspiring true stories of challenge and triumph / Bob Richards. [Rev. ed.].

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-8007-3272-1 (pbk.)

1. AthletesBiography. 2. Richards, Bob, 1926 I. Title.

GV697.A1R54 2009

796.0922dc22 [B]

2009002906

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture marked NASB is taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture marked NKJV is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

CONTENTS

DAN GABLE

I first read The Heart of a Champion as a high school student-athlete in 1964. What an incredible source of inspiration and motivation! I devoured every page and believed in all it stood for. In addition, anytime I had an issue or problem in my training up to the Olympic Games, I would look to this book for a solution. I always found the answer within the pages of this book. I continued to use it through my collegiate, post-collegiate and coaching yearsas a resource for answers and encouragement to stay at the top of my competition. Just like my days as a competitive athlete, I would also turn to this book for answers in helping the individual athletes I coached.

Of course, the years before 1964 were good years for me too, and thankfully strong parenting and support groups led me on my path. Yet, I sure could have used this book during those times to help build an even stronger base of knowledge and certainty. This book has still not left my side and carries me forward in my life. I continue to use it as a tool for motivational speeches and to answer and strengthen my current affairs.

The Heart of a Champion and the stories of Bob Richards will never be outdated, for its philosophies and principles hold up eternally. Now more than ever, we need people like Bob who can point us to the ideals and attitudes that lead to success. Im confident that this fiftieth anniversary edition will inspire a new generation of readers.

Dan Gable,
Olympic champion
and legendary coach

W e all want to win. We want to go to the top. Weve all got great aspirations, great goals. Id like to think with you about what I believe to be the ingredients of a winning philosophy, about some great champions Ive known in the world of sports who have personified what I think it takes to win. There are certain basic qualities and characteristics youve got to have. Number one: youve got to have a will to win.

I suppose you have all heard this clich over and over again. Its a phrase used more in sports than elsewhere, and probably used more there than any other statement. The will to win. The will to win! As Ive analyzed great champions Im convinced that this is the something that makes the difference between mediocre athletes and great performers in the world of sports. It depends upon whether or not youve got this something deep down insidethis will to win.

Its a will to win, and not just a wish to win. I know a lot of people who have what I would call a wish to win. Theyd like to go to the top. They daydream about the position theyd like to hold in life. Ive seen it in sports. Ive seen fellows in locker rooms sitting around dreaming on the benches; you talk to them about their performances, and theyve got great dreams about what theyd like to be. They tell you their potential, about the heights they could soar to, or the distances they could run, the times they could perform if they would only get out and train and work and do the thing necessary to bring it to pass.

And you find them three or four years later still talking about what they could do if they would only pay the price. Well, it isnt that kind of thinking that takes you to the top. Wishful thinking, or daydreaming, is the kind of escapism that will destroy many a mans greatest aspiration.

Now, I dont mean you dare not dream at all. I think the greatest thing in life is to be able to dream, to have great aspirations, but I think it equally important that you have a will that can turn that dream into reality. Youve got to have something within you that is able to translate into concrete practice the idea in the back of your mind.

Youve got to dream, yes, but more importantly youve got to have a will that makes that thing come to pass. Let me illustrate by referring to one of my great friends, Dr. Roger Bannister. I dont know how many of you have heard of him. He was the man who astounded the track-and-field world by running the mile in less than four minutesthe first miler in history to do it. If you know anything about run- ning, you know it was a fantastic accomplishment. When I picked up the newspaper and read the headline, Bannister runs mile in under four minutes, I was flabbergasted.

Oh, Id seen Bannister run, many times. Ive seen a lot of great stars run, but I didnt believe anyone would be able to run a four-minute mile for the next twenty years. When I went to Asia recently, I stopped off in London, went out to St. Marys Hospital and had a talk with Roger about this tremendous feat.

I wish you could hear him describe it. Hes the most eloquent describer of what it takes to run that Ive ever heard. Having lunch there together, during the week he was finishing his internship at St. Marys Hospital, we began to talk about how he did it. He told me that in the Olympic Games in 1952, he was terribly disappointedhe was supposed to win, but he wound up in fourth place. He came home more or less chagrined and disillusioned, and he was going to give up running. His medical studies were so demanding that he thought hed better devote all of his time to preparing for medicine and forget about running.

So he went to his coach and he told him; he said, Coach, Im through. Im going to devote all my time to studying. His coach said, Roger, I think you are the man who can break four minutes in the mile. I wish youd give it one last try before you quit.

Roger didnt know what to say, but he went home that night and even as he was studying anatomy, with a pencil in his hand, he began to think about whether or not he might be able to do this thing. Before that night was over, there had crystallized in his mind, in the form of iron will, the determination that before he quit running he was going to try to crack the four-minute mile.

He knew what it meant. He knew he would have to study eight, nine, ten hours a day to get through medical school. He knew he would have to train four hours a day. He would have to run continually to build his body up to the peak of perfection. He knew he would have to eat the best foods. He knew he would have to go to bed early every night and sleep nine or ten hours to let his body recuperate and build up for that great day. Willing to do that, willing to pay the price, for five solid months he went through a routine just like that. And then the day came for him to try for the four-minute mile.