There is no more emotional moment in sports than when Jim Redmond helped his son, Derek, finish the 400m race at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
In his semi-final heat, the sprinter from Great Britain was headed down the backstretch when tragedy struck and he tore his hamstring.
As the competitors raced toward the line, Derek struggled back to his feet and began to limp down the track in agony, both from the pain of the injury and from the pain of not being able to compete for a medal.
After years of training, his Olympic gold medal dream was crushed.
As the tears poured down his face and he continued limping around the track, a man came running down from the stands to help him. No one knew who he was at the time, but when he reached Derek, the emotions poured out as he embraced his father and the two of them completed the race together.
Security attempted to remove him, but Jim sent them on their way. There was no way anyone was getting between him and his son, and so the two finished what Derek was unable to.
“Whatever happened, he had to finish and I was going to help him finish,” Jim said to the BBC after the race. “We started his career together and we were going to finish it together.”
That emotional moment has remained in sports lore for three decades, and today it came flooding back with the news that Jim Redmond passed away at the age of 81.
“Our thoughts are with Derek Redmond and his family following the death of his father, Jim,” tweeted the Olympic Games.
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