Only 25 men have ever won the Olympic gold medal in the 100 meters, and I'm proud to say that I had a personal connection to one of them. That connection is Manhattan College, the school where I used to work and from which Remigino graduated. In fact, it was the summer between his junior and senior years when he won the Olympics.
I had only met Lindy a few times, so I didn't know him well. But I did know him well enough for him to know who I was and say hello when I saw him at an event. And he was one of the most gracious people I've ever met.
My first extended conversation with him was just before the 60th anniversary of his victory in 2012 (the 66th anniversary is next weekend). I was working on an article to celebrate the anniversary, and he gave me about 20 minutes on the phone (then called me back a few minutes after we hung up because he forgot a detail he wanted me to include!). That article is actually linked on NBC's Olympic site right now, and they pulled quotes from it.
A few weeks later, he sent me a letter thanking me for writing the story. A letter that I have kept ever since. In it, he told me how in 2002, he went back to Helsinki for the 50th anniversary of those Games and served as the U.S. flag bearer at the ceremony in their Olympic Stadium before sitting with then-IOC President Jacques Rogge for the remainder of it. Just the fact that he took the time to do that says all you need to know about the man!
He obviously ranks pretty highly on the list of Manhattan's most famous alumni, and his love for his alma mater was very strong. He frequently returned to campus for track & field reunions and other events. As a two-time Olympic gold medalist (he also ran the third leg on the victorious 4x100 relay), that topic naturally came up pretty often. Yet every time he would tell the story, it seemed new. And he remembered every detail like it was yesterday!
Lindy was also a tremendous ambassador for the sport of track & field as a whole. It wasn't just at Manhattan where he retold his Olympic stories over and over again (in front of captive audiences). Track & field was truly his lifelong passion. Lindy Remigino lived and breathed the sport, and he wanted others to love it just as much as he did. After his running career ended, he became a high school coach for over 40 years, and his teams won more than 30 state championships.
When Manhattan's Athletic Hall of Fame was founded in 1979, Lindy was an obvious selection for the inaugural class. That's just one of the many Halls of Fame into which he's been inducted. The most recent of which was the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame, Class of 2017. While this one's unofficial, he's absolutely in the Hall of Fame of Life, as well.
In that letter, he signed off "With the Olympic Spirit." What a beautiful sentiment! Because while his name will forever be in the history books (and in photographs and on YouTube), that spirit is what will live on the most.
Godspeed, Lindy. With the Olympic Spirit...
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