Читать книгу Indiana University Olympians. From Leroy Samse to Lilly King онлайн

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Spectators stormed the court. Alford was hoisted up and handed a pair of scissors to cut the net; he then handed them to a teammate. Players were going to lift Knight on their shoulders, but he pointed to eighty-year-old Henry Iba, who had been a consultant. Knight wanted to honor Iba, who was coach for the US team that controversially lost the gold-medal game to the Soviet Union at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Witnesses said Knight might have shed a tear for the coach he respected above all others. After players put Iba down, they carried Knight off the floor to chants of “Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!”

Of all the days, weeks, and months of his journey, the Olympic moment Alford remembers best is of standing on top of the podium and hearing the national anthem. He said he gained a better appreciation of the entire experience as the years passed.

“The thing I watch the most in each Olympics since is the playing of the national anthem when you’re on the gold-medal stand,” he said.

He did not see any other sports while at the Olympics, and that wasn’t really the point anyway. That was reiterated regularly by Knight.