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Belgian Olympic marathoner breaks down in tears of disbelief upon hearing she finished 28th

38-year-old Mieke Gorissen had only been training for three years and the Olympics was just her third marathon.

Entertainer Guru/YouTube

Mieke Gorissen

Imagine deciding to take up a hobby that usually requires many years to perfect at age 35, and three years later ending up in the top 30 in the world at the highest international competition for it.

That's what happened to a 38-year-old math and physics teacher from Diepenbeek, Belgium. According to Runner's World, Mieke Gorissen has jogged 10km (a little over six miles) a few times a week for exercise for many years. But in 2018, she decided to hire a running trainer to improve her technique. As it turned out, she was a bit of a natural at distance running.

Three years later, Gorissen found herself running her third marathon. But not just any old marathon (as if there were such a thing)—the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics. And not only did she compete with the world's most elite group of runners, she came in 28th out of the 88 competing in the race.

With the heat and humidity in Tokyo, even completing the race was a major accomplishment. (Fifteen women competing did not finish the marathon.) But to come in in the top 30 when you just started focusing on distance running three years ago? Unbelievable.

In fact, Gorissen could hardly believe it herself. A video of her reaction upon hearing her results has gone viral for its purity and genuine humility. "No," she said when a reporter told her she came in 28th in the race. "That's not possible."

Then she burst into tears.

Her emotional disbelief is so moving. "I was already happy to finish the race," she said through sobs. "I do think I have reached my goal and that I can be happy."

"I also think I lost a toenail," she added, laughing.

Even after the English translation ends in the video, it's clear how much this finish meant to her. A remarkable accomplishment for a 38-year-old who knits and reads for fun and who has only run two marathons prior to competing in the Olympics.

According to her Olympic profile, she's glad she got started with distance running later in life. "If I started running in my teens, it wouldn't have been good for me," she said. "I wasn't really happy then, I would have been too hard on myself and I would have lost myself in it in a way that wasn't healthy. It came at exactly the right time."

Congratulations, Mieke. You've given us all the inspiration to set new goals and dream bigger than we ever thought possible.


This article originally appeared four years ago.

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Identity

'I wanted to jump like a girl.' Pole vaulter Sam Kendricks credits women for his success.

The Olympic silver medalist was asked who he wanted to jump like when he was younger. His answer was everything.

Photo credit: filip bossuyt from Kortrijk, Belgium

Sam Kendricks competing at the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics

Sam Kendricks is an excellent pole vaulter, as evidenced by his multiple national and World Championship wins and his two Olympic medals in the track & field event, and he credits the women in his sport for his rise to the top.

A reporter asked Kendricks, who took home the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, who he wanted to jump like when he was younger, and his answer was refreshing.

Kendricks turns the tables on doing something 'like a girl'

"I wanted to jump like a girl," he said. "It's funny, I was a great loser. I was not the gifted athlete. And at every level in the beginning I was jumping with the girls. And not because they weren't good, but because I can learn a lot from them and they beat me every time. And I learned how to jump like Stacy Dragila, the first Olympic champion in the women's pole vault…I jump like a girl."

Kendricks said that women saved the sport of pole vault because it was too dangerous in the past. He said 17 or 18 young men have died pole vaulting, but no women have.

"Women prove that people can be smart and still pole vault. So it made coaches and athletes get smarter. And girls know how to pole vault because it's different speed, you can't hide flaws. Some of the greatest girls are the best technicians, right? You can't argue that."

Watch:

Women have only been pole vaulting in the Olympics since 2000

People may be surprised to learn how young women's pole vault is as a competitive sport. There wasn't a World Championships for the event until 1999 and women's pole vault was only added to the Olympics in the Sydney games in 2000. (For comparison, men have been pole vaulting in the Olympics since 1896.)

Kendricks casually but confidently giving kudos to women in pole vault is important on multiple levels. For one, seeing a man name a woman as his role model in a sport is unusual. The pioneers of women's sport only had men to look to for training examples and heroes, so seeing the reverse is a heartening sign of a more level playing field. But Kendrick goes a step further in saying that women have made pole vault better. Gender parity isn't just about balancing inequalities—it can actually be beneficial for everyone in the sport.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

People in the comments appreciated Kendricks' answer.

"What a great guy, its so refreshing to hear him say all this."

"It's almost as if learning from those that have been disadvantaged and found ways to overcome their hurdles, rather than those that depend on luck's gifts, is the best way to become your best self. Who'd have thunk it."

"Open-minded observation leading to smart tactics. That's what we are talking about."

"AND, look how nothing was taken away from him? He complimented, valued, learned and respected a woman/women, and he is just the same person/man, if not better! Who knew? What a great leader for today's men."

"So wonderful to listen to a man so comfortable in his masculinity and prowess that he can actually compliment and acknowledge women's accomplishments without having to lash out and try to destroy. Thank you for your maturity."

Gender parity in sports is beneficial for everyone

Some people pointed out that women frequently have better technique in various sports than men because they can't rely on sheer muscle strength to power through moves. So men can—and do—learn about more effective technique from women.

"Observing and learning from women often leads to better technique. Guys will try to muscle out a move, for most women that is not an option."

"They had to create the correct technique; they couldn’t just be strong. I think it’s the same with rock climbing too."

"I’m no professional athlete, but I’ve learnt (Japanese) archery in the past. And just like him, I was a struggling loser, when I decided to watch closely both men and women, and decided to try to mimic women. In one year, I went from hopeless to one of the main members of my school for the reasons he listed: girls don’t 'brute force' their way with bad technique, in general. Copying their technique was the best choice I ever made in sports."

"This has been true in the sports I participate in as well: snowboarding, now climbing, and skydiving. Women tend to have some of the best technique and most efficient movement."

via GIPHY

"When I coached junior college soccer I would recruit players without a lot of soccer experience, such as basketball players to fill out the roster. I would always tell them to watch high level women’s soccer, like the USA national team because they were technically superior."

Beautiful. Here's to women's sports taking their rightful place in international competitions and here's to the men who recognize, acknowledge and celebrate the ways women having opportunities to compete helps make sports better for everyone.

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6 can't-miss moments from the Paralympics that show you've been watching it all wrong

It's not inspiration porn. It's elite athletics.

Paula Funnell/Flickr and Chris Karidis/Unsplash

I recently saw someone say that the Olympics are the warm-up for the Paralympics.

After tuning in to some of the coverage, I have to say — they're right!

Research from the UK's Channel 4 showed more people tend to tune in to the Paralympics to see people overcoming their disabilities than to watch exciting sports competition.

While it's great that folks are watching (in record numbers, in fact), respectfully, they've got it all wrong.

When you really sit down and watch some of the competitions, you start to realize that the Paralympics is anything but an afterthought — it is, in its own right, a display of world-class athleticism and skill, not to mention diversity and community and inclusiveness.

Here are some of the most incredible feats from the Paris games so far.

1. This blind football penalty kick that had the world in awe.

Blind football, or blind soccer, is a sport that bears a lot of resemblance to the football/soccer we're used to, except its modified for the visually impaired.

All the participants compete on an even playing field by wearing full black-out masks and must navigate the pitch using only their other senses.

A video of a penalty kick posted by NBC recently took Twitter/X by storm.

It's impossible to emphasize how difficult this is.

2. This incredible archery shot that broke the internet.

You just have to watch Sheetal Devi, a 17-year-old from India, nail a perfect bullseye in Para archery. You must see it with your own eyes.

She's the only woman with no arms competing in the games, and the extraordinary display of athleticism as she uses her feet, shoulder, and mouth to fire an arrow is truly hard to believe.

3. This unreal one-legged high jump.

A video of Polish high jumper Łukasz Mamczarz went viral on Reddit this week, and it's easy to see why.

It's an astounding display of power and coordination as Mamczarz chose to compete without a prosthetic.

Sadly, Mamczarz did not medal in the event. However, American high-jumper Ezra Frech won Gold with a Paralympic world record of 1.94 meters!

4. This world-record shattering wheelchair race.

American Samantha Kingborn brought home the gold with an amazing performance in her 100m final.

She completed the race in 15.64 seconds — an astonishing speed to achieve with arm power alone!

(Seriously, just look how fast the athletes are moving by the end. Wow!)

5. This clip that shows what championship-level breakdancing is supposed to look like.

Not to continue piling on poor RayGun, but you don't need a PhD to know that these breakdance athletes are just on another level.

(Full disclosure: This group, Ill Abilities, performed their routine at the 2024 Olympics — breakdancing was controversially excluded from the Paralympics this year.)

Check out the casual backflip done on one leg!

6. This video that explains the genius way visually impaired fans can follow goalball.

Paralympic athletes aren't just changing the game on the court or field. The games are also pushing the boundaries for how we can watch and consume sports.

TikToker Lucy Edwards recently shared the brilliant device used at the Paralympic games that allows visually impaired fans to follow along while watching goalball — another sport played completely blind that requires complete silence, as the athletes need to focus on hearing bells inside the ball.

These tactile magnet boards, called Vision Pads, allow people in the audience to follow all the action without the need for announcers.

@lucyedwards

I am still so emotional I was able to do this… I have never had an experience this inclusive with a live event. I came out of the arena and cried like a baby. Vision Pad you are amazing. [PR Event with @Channel 4 @paralympics ] #Paralympics #ParalympicsC4 #AccessibleSport #Sport #Goalball

Meanwhile NFL games can't get basic closed captioning right half the time.

It's time to ditch the idea that the Paralympics are an inferior athletic product, or that the level of competition is somehow watered down from the Olympics.

Thinking of the games as a way for athletes to overcome their disabilities drastically underestimates them as athletes.

Take the time to watch the events and you'll be absolutely astonished with what you see. Not to mention incredibly entertained!

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Joy

Watch how Paralympic runner tearfully cheers for his wife as she long jumps to Olympic gold

People have fallen in love with Tara and Hunter Woodhall's beautiful love story.

Photo by Studio Guyub on Unsplash

Track stars Tara Davis and Hunter Woodhall got married in October 2022.

The Olympic Games have always been about more than just sports. Every Olympics, we get to hear about people's personal journeys, their trials and triumphs and other aspects of their lives.

For track and field athlete Tara Davis-Woodhall, that journey includes the sweet love story of how she and her husband, Paralympic runner Hunter Woodhall, fell in love.

Tara won Olympic gold in the long jump on August 8, 2024, and the first thing she did after making celebratory sand angels in the pit was run and leap into Hunter's arms. The moment was caught on film and photo, and people loved seeing how excited both of them were to celebrate together.

"You're the Olympic champion!" Hunter yelled as he lifted Tara up off the ground.

“It was such a relief and a ‘finally’ moment,” Davis-Woodhall told NBC. “I was just looking into his eyes and I didn’t know where I was. I almost blacked out for a second and he just made the moment so much more special.”

Watch how Hunter cheered for her before, during and after her gold-medal-winning jump, tearing up as the crowd clapped for her:

Hunter, a three-time Paralympic medal winner, was born with a congenital birth defect called fibular hemimelia. At 11 months old he underwent a double amputation, losing the bottom half of both legs. He went on to become a track star in Utah, running on carbon fiber blades, then became the first double amputee to earn a Division-I track and field scholarship when enrolled at University of Arkansas for the 2017-2018 school year, according to USA Today.

Tara and Hunter met at an indoor track and field meet in Idaho in 2017, when they were both still in high school. Tara noticed Hunter when he was warming up for the 400m as she was warming up for hurdles, and she said, "Oooh, who's that?" At the time, she didn't know Hunter didn't have lower legs, as he was wearing sweatpants.

Hunter noticed Tara, too, and told his friends that she was the girl he was going to marry before they even talked. It was love at first sight.

They started dating long distance and their relationship only grew stronger. They competed in the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2021 and got married in October 2022. They even took wedding pictures with their dogs. Talk about winning at life.

People love the Woodhalls' vlogs where they share tidbits from their daily life, their training and their competitions. And that post-gold medal video isn't just a one-off. Hunter is Tara's biggest fan and supporter in every competition. This was just from early July 2024:

@tara

These are the moments ✨🇺🇸@Hunter Woodhall


People love the Woohalls' love story.

"This is one healthy relationship She is free to be so vulnerable with him and he delivers. 🔥🔥🔥"

"Oh to be married to your best friend and biggest supporter. 🥰

"I’m DONE SETTLING. I love how she can be so vulnerable without being judged."

"I won't settle for less than this kind of love, respect and support😭😭😭."

"Green flags everywhere."

"That hug made me cry, that boy loves you so much!"

"Everyone deserves a partner like this ❤️❤️ this is so beautiful."

"The love these two have for each other is amazing! Proud that both represent the USA! 🇺🇸 ❤️🤍💙"

You can follow the adorable Woodhalls on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

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