My favourite Summer Olympic Games moment isn’t something that happened on a track or in a swimming pool but when Muhammad Ali lite the cauldron in Atlanta during the Opening Ceremony of Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games {my two favourite Olympic moments are winter games moments- the Miracle on Ice game against the Soviet Union in 1980 at Lake Placid and Franz Klammer’s victory in the downhill at the 1976 Innsbruck Games}

Muhammad Ali is my #1 sports hero of all times. He was perfect for his times, the 1960’s. He was the most controversial athlete of the day. A lot of people today forget that. His becoming a member of the Black Muslim’s after winning the championship vs Charles Sonny Liston,his changing his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali,  his refusal to go to Vietnam at the height of the war, his not being able to box for several years due to his refusal to go to Vietnam {he was robbed of the best years of his career} he was the original trash talker. He was a lightning rod. You either loved him or hated him. I loved him.

In the thirty years since the end of his boxing career we have seen his gradual decline in health. The mouth that roared has been silenced. The world has changed. Muhammad Ali is now universally loved.

I have only been moved to tears twice while watching sports. In 1972 I was heartbroken when my Pirates lost to the Reds on a Bob Moose wild pitch in the last game of the NLCS. I still think it was the best Pirate team ever. I was 11 and I was at my grandparents watching that game. When it was over I got on my bike, rode 2 miles home, walked in the house, ran to my room and started crying.

I think the thing that got me about the 1996 Ali lighting the cauldron was the element of surprise. I never in a million years thought that it would be Muhammad Ali. When Janet Evans ran up with the torch I though she was going to be the one who did it. Then out steps Muhammad Ali. I was overcome with emotion. What a stroke of genius to have him be the one. He was shaky and I found myself rooting for him to be able to light the cauldron, just as I had rooted for him against Smokin’ Joe Frazier. I look back now at the video and the pictures. Hard to believe that was 16  years ago. I remember at the time feeling sad about how badly Muhammad looked, how shaky he was.  Now I see him in London and in comparison he looked healthy back in Atlanta. The great Ali is now 70 years old and I can’t help feeling that the end is near. What a life he has lived.

below is the link -from the torch entering the Olympic Stadium until Muhammad Ali lights the cauldron

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TaITzi64Sw

below Muhammad at the London Games