Heading into the 1976 Olympics the Japanese were the world champions as well as Olympic Champions but the USSR had won silver at the previous 4 games and felt that this might be their time to re-climb the mountain to Olympic Gold.
Shun Fujimoto, 26 years old, was a reserve for the team when they arrived in Canada. Shigeru Kasamatsu was a team leader and the world all around champion at the time. On the eve of the games Shigeru was forced to withdraw from the team due to an emergency appendectomy. As a result Shun Fujimoto was called into the team to compete at his first and only Olympics. The courage he showed in his Olympic performance reverberated for many years to come. The injuries he sustained prevented him from competing at international level after Montreal.
In team gymnastics each team has 6 athletes and the top 5 scores count towards the teams final total. They compete in 6 separate disciplines and the totals from each discipline are added together for the final score. The 6 events are the Floor, Pommel Horse, Still rings, Vault, Parallel bars and horizontal bar.
During the 1st event of the optionals, the floor routine, Shun, whilst landing in his 4th rountine bent his knee the wrong way and the damage was done. He didn't say anything, but when he walked one step forward he couldn't feel his leg. He checked his leg's condition with each step as he headed to his chair. Shun was in agony but he didn't want to let anyone know as he thought it would effect his team's chances if he received treatment. I guess he figured that by heading for treatment it would add extra pressure to his team-mates and at the same time boost the confidence of their rivals. As a result he kept the pain hidden and amazingly carried on.
And so to the pommel horse. This had been Japan's weakest discipline in the last four Olympics. Knowing that, the team had focussed on this event to improve their standing. Shun was to go first. He knew it would be important to give the team a good start. Shun said later that he tried to forget the injury and concentrated on the task at hand. He did well and received a 9.5. He had survived.
Then to his greatest and final act of courage, the rings. Shun performed well, but must have known that the landing was going to take him to a world of pain. The moment he landed he felt a horrible squish from his leg. His leg bent completely the wrong way. He managed to correct it. If he leaned his leg would have bent forwards. Despite all of this he stuck the landing after an extended pause to keep his balance. He received the best score of his life, a 9.7.
His pain could no longer be hidden. His team doctors refused to give him pain killers and he retired from the competition. Shun was devastated. "I felt dead inside", he said. "We had lost our chance to medal and it was all my fault" He headed to the medical tent a broken man, physically and mentally. Shun had broken his knee in the floor routine. The dismount from 8 feet up on the rings dislocated his already broken kneecap and tore the ligaments just for good measure.
When he returned from the medical tent he was shocked to find his team celebrating. His team-mates thanked him for his courage and used him to inspire them to greater heights. This brought them all to tears. Shun thought he would miss the medal ceremony but his team would have none of it. He had inspired them and they wanted Shun with them on the podium. His team helped him halfway to the podium but he hobbled the rest of the way on his own because he felt that it would be embarrassing to be helped.
The very next day Shun's leg was in a full cast from hip to foot. This was his only appearance at an Olympic games but he certainly left a mark. The injury ended his gymnastics career and left him with lasting ligament damage.
In interviews Shun is an act of humility. He did a courageous thing but did it just so he wouldn't let his mates down. A wonderful lesson in what being part of a team is all about. Thanks for the inspiration Shun Fujimoto.
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