ST. LOUIS — Olympic Day is an annual tradition at Washington University. It celebrates the history of the Olympics in St. Louis.
Besides being in some air-conditioning, there was nowhere better to be on June 21 than at Francis Olympic Field, the site of the 1904 Summer Games and the oldest modern-day Olympic stadium still in active use.
Created by the International Olympic Committee, Olympic Day commemorates the birth of the modern Olympic Games on June 23, 1894. Which makes sense why the St. Louis Sports Commission would want to help plan Olympic Day at the Olympic Field to allow hundreds of local kids to walk and run around today like real aspiring Olympians.
"The 1904 Olympics started here, this is real history," Jackie Joyner-Kersee, the six-time Olympic medalist, said.
Unsurprisingly, the hundreds of local kids who gathered at Wash U on Friday weren't yet alive in 1984 during Joyner-Kersee's first Olympics, or when she won three golds between Seoul and Barcelona in 1992.
However, 1996 in Atlanta was different.
"You tore your hamstring and you still won bronze," 5 On Your Side's Annie Krall said on June 21. "What kind of perseverance, diligence, discipline did it take mentally and physically to get that medal?"
"It was really devastating in '96 coming down to the last jump," the East St. Louis native Joyner-Kersee responded. "For me, it was almost de ja vu because in 1984 I had strained my left hamstring but this time it came full circle. I was just praying to God, staying positive. I was like 'if the leg goes, they're going to send a gurney out to pick me up but I'm going to give it all I've got to give.' "
A mentality that helped inspire the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation in East St Louis to give kids opportunities, transportation and more. The foundation annually touches about 10,000 families nationwide, Kendall Norris with the foundation said.
"Determination, grit, teamwork, service, wellness are all of the principles that we do every day with the young people," Norris said.
5 On Your Side's Rene Knott was the emcee speaking with Joyner-Kersee and other former Olympians including 2008 volleyball gold medalist Scott Touzinsky.
The 6 feet, 7-inch Oakville native who now runs Ace Volleyball Lab got to play and teach the St. Louis kids how to serve while showing off his Beijing gold medal.
"Just trying to show the next generation what's attainable, what's possible?" Touzinsky said. "You've got to dream big for everything that you do. You don't ever want to give up on anything. Hopefully the intangibles of attitude, communications, and effort can take you over that line as well."
Speaking of dreaming big, the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team Trials start on Friday. Some of our local athletes like 19-year-old Mason Meinershagen are hoping to finally punch their ticket to Paris over the next few days.
Joyner-Kersee is looking forward to heading to Eugene, Oregon for the trials soon and cheering on the next generation of hometown heroes.
The track and field trails run until June 30.