The saying, ‘Sky is the limit’ appeared true until Neil Armstrong stepped on the surface of the moon on July 21, 1969.
Now the saying doesn't hold good. Especially after seeing the speed with which, the records in sports are tumbling like a pack of cards every day and every moment.
Excellence has no end.Search for Excellence is eternal.
Whenever we witness an incredible and an awe- inspiring sporting event, we feel. ‘I think , this is the best I ever witnessed. This feat cannot be bettered by anyone in future.’
But to the utter astonishment of all, the very next day, another mind boggling performance will make yesterday’s record, you have seen pale and lusterless.
Now the million dollar question that flashes in everybody’s mind is, ‘How far these records go on? Will a time come, when the records would stop falling?’
‘Not exactly,’, the scientists say. They are of the opinion, that there is no end to human endeavors. It’s a continuous process and after every record- shattering, the human limits ask the Historians to re-define human limits.
Frank Foss, the Pole Vaulter walked slowly to his mark. Turned towards the arena. Adjusted the pole in his hand. Held it tight. Took a deep breath. And started running towards his goal. Faster, faster and faster. Then a big leap.
For a full second, the entire stadium dipped under the sea of silence. Then a deafening applause followed by a grand standing ovation greeted Frank Fross, who just then cleared a record height of 4.09 metres in the event of Pole- Vault.
Wow, that was an incredible feat.
A record of the century
None can touch it.
The entire stadium was on its feet. It was immersed in the torrent of cheers, exuberance, gaiety, hilarity and jocundity. That was the expression of Joie- de- vivre of sea of spectators to acknowledge the birth of an event that’s going to stay in the history books forever.
Of course, the spectators were right. But only for a period of seven decades.
In March 1989, at the Osaka indoor meet when a pole-vaulter from Russia, cleared 6.03 metres, he did not look happy. Disappointment writ all over his face he was heard muttering to himself. ‘ I’m way behind my target of 6.20 metres, no good.’That was Sergei Bubka, the legendary Pole- vaulter.
Humanly impossible feat.
The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.- Sir Roger Bannister
The year was 1954. May 6. The day when psychological barriers were shattered to smithereens. The day, when experts belief,’ it was impossible for a human to run the mile in less than four minutes’ proved to be a myth.
Roger Bannister’s name is synonymous with under four minute mile. He proved that all our failures are due to self scripted limitations. Before Roger Bannister, there were many physically capable runners who could run a mile in less than four minutes. But they were held by the belief, ‘Its impossible.’
Making impossibilities in to possibilities is the quality that separates winners from losers. The belief that, ‘Sky is not a limit’, make winners stand head and shoulders above the rest.
Roger Bannister was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He came from a simple origin. Both his parents had to leave education for the sake of livelihood. Despite all his deficiencies, How a simple Roger Bannister could make himself immortal? He simply erased the self imposed limits, ‘Oh, its not possible.’
Is it really not possible? Had it been real, civilization would have been remained in the caves. Here are some more examples to prove, ’Impossible is the word, that stands as a classic example for self imposed limit.’
A perfect 10.
At one time, there was a belief in the gymnastic parlance that it’s not possible to score 10 out of 10 in a gymnastic event. The experts proved themselves wrong until 1976, when Nadia Comaneci scored 10 out of 10 in Montreal Olympics
This 14 year old Romanian girl stunned not only the judges, but also the electronic score board. There was a collective disbelief pervaded in the Olympic arena. To prove that her performance was not a fluke, Nadia repeated her incredible performance over the next few days seven times.
In the year 1896 Athens Olympics, Thomas Burke won the 100 metre gold in 12 seconds, that was considered as a remarkable feat. In the London Olympics 2012, Usain Bolt from Jamaica created a record in 100 metres sprint in 9.63 seconds.
In the 1900 Paris Olympics, Irving Baxter created a high jump Olympic record at 1.9 metres . Today, the high jump record is owned by the Cuban Javier Soto mayor. His record magic figure is 2.43 metres.
In the 1920 Antwerp games, Belgium’s Francois de Haes made a world record in the Featherweight weight lifting category with a combined total of 220 kilos. In the London Olympics, 2012, Kim Un- Guk of North Korea lifted a combined weight of 327 kilos.
In 1908 London Olympics, Sweden’s Eric Lemming created a world record in Javelin to a distance of 54. 82 metres . In the London Olympics, 2012, Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago has thrown a sensational javelin throw of a distance of 84. 58 metres.
Role of Latest Gadgets and equipment in improving human excellence.
The computer age has also played in reminding the humans that, it takes more than just a physiologist to judge a sports persons real abilities.
Just imagine The immortal Jesse Owens running in today’s improved and modern synthetic rubber track wearing lightweight running shoes and starting blocks. He could have run easily at least 0.4 seconds lesser time. Some other examples are simple speed bicycles which were overtaken by aero dynamic bikes Aluminum poles gone in to oblivion with the advent of Fiberglass poles.
Influence of technology on techniques
With the availability of ever-changing developments in technology the techniques too have undergone a sea change. For example, in high jump, there used to be techniques like Straddle technique, eastern cut-off or Scissors-jump to name a few.
In the summer Olympics of 1968, the gold medalist in the high jump, Dick Fosbury introduced a strange technique in which the jumper, jumps over the bar, backwards and head first. Since then Fosbury flop has sent all other techniques in to oblivion.
Flutter kick in swimming has been replaced by ‘Dolphin style’ performed underwater.
It goes without saying, with all said and done, whatever may be the factors and facilities at the disposal of humans, there is and will be one factor without which success becomes a remote dream. That is ,your strong belief, ‘there are no human limits.’
That ‘Sky is no more a limit’ applies to all fields.
Any man can achieve success, the moment, he stops thinking about human limits, which are our own creations. Though, I specifically dealt with the examples in Sports arena. By erasing self imposed limits, like a physically handicapped person cannot achieve anything in life, failures indicate inefficiency, and old age is a hindrance for learning to name a few , one can realize his/her life’s ambitions and aspirations.
We would have lost ‘Paradise lost.’
Had John Milton fallen for the self imposed human limits that Blindness spells the end. We would have lost John Milton’s Magnum opus , which he has written during blindness .
The greatest composer of all time Beethoven never thought of his deafness as an impediment for composing his symphonies.
Albert Einstein, Mathematician, physician and Nobel Laureate had learning disability and he did not speak until he was four years. He was refused admission to the Zurich polytechnic school. Just imagine what would have happened, had he contributed to the meaningless ‘Human limits.’
Walt Disney was refused by news paper editors saying that he lacked imagination.
According to MGM studios, Julie Andrews doesn't have a photogenic face.
All the above are the great souls who refused to bow down their head before the general belief that there are human limits. They defied the belief and emerged as champs and have become the source of inspiration for millions.