"As I stepped onto the track I felt my legs go rubbery. I saw over a 100,000 people in the stands, and before I knew it, I had collapsed onto the infield grass. 'Can it be,' I remembered thinking, as I lay there gazing up at the sky, 'that I am so nervous I'm not going to be able to run?' Then I realized how ridiculous I'd look, flat on my back on the grass as they started the race. I guess the humor of that image made me lose my nervousness. I was able to recover, get up and jog to the starting line."
-Tom Courtney, on the moments before he won the Olympic 800 gold in Melbourne