(5 of 5)
The Olympics stir Thompson. "As a concept," he says, "I think it's one of the most genuinely humanitarian thoughts that man has ever had. The youth of the world coming together to play -- it's a wonderful dream." He quadrennially skips the opening parade to save his legs from the speeches and his head from the pigeons, but partakes in all the casual camaraderie. "I'm a Village person. I like to go around and meet gymnasts and weight lifters, every kind of athlete. We share a special understanding. All sports are the same; it's just the rules that are different. Were ((the basketball star)) Michael Jordan and I to meet, I honestly think we could communicate without sentences, with just the start of words, maybe with knowing nods alone. At the Olympics, I love watching almost anything at all that's special, as long as it doesn't have a horse in it."
For someone who pulls down hundreds of thousands sipping soft drinks on billboards, Thompson sounds suspiciously like an amateur. "I like to think of myself as one of the last true amateurs," he says, "but I can only be an amateur because I can afford to be. Inside, though, that's exactly what I am. I love the occasion and I can't help showing it. At the end of the day, I think that's the real reason why the public doesn't enjoy Carl Lewis. He never looks to be having a good time."
Thompson frequently trains in California and is a student of the U.S. "It's | nice to get away from the English ambience. If you're at all aggressive -- gung ho -- it's really kind of frowned upon. Whereas, in America, they appreciate that. In fact, it's a prerequisite to getting around. For everybody on the street, every day is a competition." One national trait troubles him: "People in the U.S. tend to value a sport or a sportsman exactly according to how much money is involved. In adjacent arenas, if Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson were running for a $1,000 prize, and six monkeys were racing for $10 million, which place do you think would be filled? Honestly, if Jesse Owens and Jim Thorpe were around today, I wonder if as many people would have heard of them."
On practice fields at UCLA or the University of California, Irvine, he has encountered Joyner-Kersee now and then. "A very pleasant girl," he says, "and a beautiful athlete." She recalls that at every encounter he would brush her with a dare or nudge her with an insult. "He was the one who challenged me to go over 7,000. 'Why not be the first?' he'd say. Or he'd go the other way: 'Nobody will ever jump 24 ft. in the heptathlon. Give me a break.' I knew what he was doing."
Neither of them talks about the prize or seems to care about the benefits. "The medals don't mean anything," says Thompson, "and the glory doesn't last. It's all about performing well, and feeling deeply about it." Joyner- Kersee says, "The rewards are going to come, but my happiness is just loving the sport, loving sport, period." Zaharias and Thorpe are around today, honestly, and everyone has heard of them.