The Sewells Team has been inspired by the book: “Legacy”, by James Kerr. In this week’s inspirational email, we recounted the amazing story of the All Blacks’ Buck Shelford and his breath-taking determination and drive to continue playing despite facing unimaginable injury during a crucial, highly charged match against France in 1986.
In another inspirational tale, from the same book, we learn of Károly Takács, a Hungarian shooter, who became the first person to win two Olympic gold medals in the 25 metre rapid fire pistol event.
Takács was born in Budapest and joined the Hungarian Army. By 1936, he was a world-class pistol shooter, but he was denied a place in the Hungarian shooting team for the 1936 Summer Olympics on the grounds that he was a sergeant, and only commissioned officers were allowed to compete. This prohibition was lifted in Hungary after the Berlin Games, and Takács had expectations of success at the 1940 Summer Olympics, scheduled to be held in Tokyo.
During army training in 1938, his right hand was badly injured by a grenade. Takács was determined to continue his shooting career, and switched to shooting with his left hand. Practising in secret, he surprised his countrymen when he won the Hungarian national pistol shooting championship in the spring of 1939.
The Olympic Games scheduled for 1940 and 1944 were cancelled due to the Second World War, but Takács again surprised the world by winning the gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, aged 38, beating the favourite, Argentine Carlos Enrique Díaz Sáenz Valiente, who was the reigning world champion, into second place, and setting a new world record.
Champions do extra and, in the face adversity, they push themselves even harder and stay focused on their goal. How far are you prepared to go to reach your goals and meet your targets?
To purchase Legacy and some of the other inspirational reads recommended by Sewells, please see the links below…
