Failure motivates

Dave Sime on the right winning the silver medal in the 100 yards Rome Olympics

Enduring trials and tribulations in life build character because it demands strength. The strength to pick up and try again; the strength to maintain a positive outlook. The story of Dave Sime is a perfect example of this. He began his career as a runner. In 1956, the American athlete broke the world record for the 220-yard hurdles while training for the Melbourne Olympic Games. But soon injuries and failures began to plague him, and because of an error in passing the baton, his relay team was disqualified at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Crushed by his setbacks, Sime retired from sports even though he still had won the silver medal in the 100 yards final in the same Olympics. And yet, his misfortunes pointed him to medical school and he graduated in the top 10 percent of his class. He eventually became a successful ophthalmologist, and he refers to his failures in track as “the best thing that ever happened to me.”