As a partial antidote to the sad story of Elena Mukhina I related yesterday, heres a heartwarming story about a similarly tragic injury that actually has a happy ending. I tuned in the Goodwill Games that terrible night in 1998, and Sang Lans injury in vault warmups had occurred just before the broadcast started. Hearing the hushed, somber announcement about her likely paralysis when I was looking forward to an exciting night of competition made a major impression on me, and made the event difficult to watch. But it wasnt until about three years ago that I followed up to find out what had become of Sang, and discovered that she had become an advocate for the disabled in China and an inspirational heroine for many there, and was one of the Olympic torch bearers for the Beijing Games. Her image faltered in the eyes of some when she brought suit against Time Warner (parent of Goodwill Games sponsor) and USA Gymnastics for negligence and failing to honor promises to take care of all her medical expenses. The negligence claim arose from alleged failure to properly control the competition floor and other coaches, as she said her accident occurred when she was distracted in mid-flight by a coach from another team who was moving mats in the landing area where she was headed. That suit failed, and she later also brought suit for molestation against her guardian during her 10-month treatment in the US, that latter suit was settled out of court. Imagine my pleasant surprise last April when the news broke of Sang Lans marriage and miraculous birth. Best of luck to the Sang Lan family! https://youtube/watch?v=I8a9aRh-QC0
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 23:49:34 +0000
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