An Olympic Gold Medal Favorite Who Fell, Hiromi Taniguchi Weighs In On Online Harassment and Athlete Mental Health
In a world where slander and abuse run freely on the Internet, words have become a deadly weapon that can end someone's life. 1991 marathon world champion Hiromi Taniguchi , 60, saw his own life change dramatically when he uttered a single phrase after finishing 8th in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics men's marathon. The words he said right after finishing, "I had a little whoopsie-daisy!" have become part of folklore as the good-natured reaction of someone who simply lost their race, but in the years since then they've become in their own way a cross that Taniguchi has had to bear. We talked directly with Taniguchi, now a professor at Miyazaki University, to find out what impact those Olympic Games now 28 years distant had upon his life and fate. Taniguchi teaches at Miyazaki University three times a week. His classes and appearances at marathon-related events have been heavily impacted by the coronavirus crisis. "Everything on the schedule this year has been...