Nine gold medals
David Roth
About the poet :
David Lee Roth (1954-present) is an American Rock singer, songwriter, actor, and
author who came to fame for being the lead vocalist of the Southern California
based hard rock band Van Halen. Roth's poem "Nine Gold Medals" is a celebration
of the camaraderie and sportsmanship which is often lacking in sports and in life.
Poem at a glance :
~The last event of an athletic meet is about to start.
~It is a hundred metre race.
~The nine athletes queue up the starting line amidst much cheering.
~The pistol explodes and the race starts.
~The youngest of the athletes falls on his knees.
~The other eight athletes, instead of carrying on with the race, came back to the
starting line and help the youngest athlete stand up.
~Then all the nine athletes hold each others' hands and walk to the finishing line.
~The banner above read "Special Olympics."
Summary :
The Poem "Nine Gold Medals" describes the last race of an athletic event in which
nine runners are participating in a 100 metres race. As the event starts, the
youngest of the runners stumbles and falls down and eight other runners instead
of running to the finish line, come back to pick up the youngest runner and they
together hold each other's hands and walk towards the finish line and all the nine
runners get gold medals. The poem is a simple description of a track event of a
strange race where instead of competing with each other, the runners cooperate
with each other as one of them stumbles and falls down. The poem is a brilliant
example of camaraderie in a world which makes us believe that we should always
be competing with others. In this context it is important to remember here that it is
an event of the Special Olympics and how the physically challenged people are
challenging the definition of a race to assert that it is only through camaraderie
and amity that we can fight the challenges of this world and all of us can emerge
victorious.
Justification of the title:
The title of the poem "Nine Gold Medals" at first seems to be quite confusing as
how can there be nine gold medals for a single race. A race is all about competing
with others and coming first to earn the gold medal. A race is about showing to the
world that you are the best. But in the race that is described in the poem, the nine
runners show that this usual definition of a race is something which can be
David Roth
About the poet :
David Lee Roth (1954-present) is an American Rock singer, songwriter, actor, and
author who came to fame for being the lead vocalist of the Southern California
based hard rock band Van Halen. Roth's poem "Nine Gold Medals" is a celebration
of the camaraderie and sportsmanship which is often lacking in sports and in life.
Poem at a glance :
~The last event of an athletic meet is about to start.
~It is a hundred metre race.
~The nine athletes queue up the starting line amidst much cheering.
~The pistol explodes and the race starts.
~The youngest of the athletes falls on his knees.
~The other eight athletes, instead of carrying on with the race, came back to the
starting line and help the youngest athlete stand up.
~Then all the nine athletes hold each others' hands and walk to the finishing line.
~The banner above read "Special Olympics."
Summary :
The Poem "Nine Gold Medals" describes the last race of an athletic event in which
nine runners are participating in a 100 metres race. As the event starts, the
youngest of the runners stumbles and falls down and eight other runners instead
of running to the finish line, come back to pick up the youngest runner and they
together hold each other's hands and walk towards the finish line and all the nine
runners get gold medals. The poem is a simple description of a track event of a
strange race where instead of competing with each other, the runners cooperate
with each other as one of them stumbles and falls down. The poem is a brilliant
example of camaraderie in a world which makes us believe that we should always
be competing with others. In this context it is important to remember here that it is
an event of the Special Olympics and how the physically challenged people are
challenging the definition of a race to assert that it is only through camaraderie
and amity that we can fight the challenges of this world and all of us can emerge
victorious.
Justification of the title:
The title of the poem "Nine Gold Medals" at first seems to be quite confusing as
how can there be nine gold medals for a single race. A race is all about competing
with others and coming first to earn the gold medal. A race is about showing to the
world that you are the best. But in the race that is described in the poem, the nine
runners show that this usual definition of a race is something which can be
