00:00At his first ever Olympics, he came in at fifth place. So when he returned four years later,
00:05his home country of Colombia was watching closely, hopeful that this would be the year
00:10that Oscar Figueroa would bring home an Olympic medal. But as he attempted his first lift,
00:15his hands slipped straight off the bar. He attempted the lift a second time, and again,
00:19the weight barely left the floor. The weight he'd chosen to lift was supposed to be a safe place
00:25to start, which would at least get him onto the scoreboard. But each time, his right hand slipped
00:30off the bar and it fell to the floor. After three failed attempts at the same weight,
00:35Oscar collapsed in tears. He felt like he'd let down his entire country. And as he listened to
00:40the toxic opinions of the Colombian critics, they only reaffirmed his fears. Oscar was vilified for
00:46being undisciplined. He was called a coward, and he was even accused of losing on purpose to spite
00:52the Colombian head weightlifting coach, whom he'd had disagreements with in the past. However,
00:57the truth of why Oscar was really failing was far darker. Because in the aftermath of the Beijing
01:03Olympics, as Oscar worked with doctors to get to the bottom of his issues, they found their answer.
01:08Oscar had been competing with an undiagnosed severe herniated disc in his spine, and the protruding disc
01:14was crushing the nerve root which led down his forearm and right hand. So each time he attempted a lift,
01:20and the area was under strain, it was literally cutting off the neural signals being sent to his
01:25hand. Doctors warned him that if he were to continue without immediate intervention, he could be left
01:31permanently paralyzed. They operated on his spine, the operation was a success, and in 2011, Oscar was
01:37back once again performing at an elite level. So as he entered into the 2012 Olympics, he knew this
01:43would be his opportunity for redemption. He started off strong, but as he continued into the second and
01:49final lift, known as the clean and jerk, Oscar was left with a difficult decision to make. He could
01:54lift 174 kilograms, which was a weight he'd lifted before, and guarantee himself a safe bronze medal.
02:01Or he could attempt a 177 kilogram lift, which if he could do it, would win him the silver. The
02:07only
02:07problem was 177 kilograms in the clean and jerk would be an Olympic record. Oscar walked out onto the
02:15floor, and he failed his first lift. On his second attempt, he failed again. And so, on his final
02:20attempt, it was either complete and utter failure once again, or an Olympic record and a silver medal.
02:28But he wasn't finished just yet, because after battling even more back issues, Oscar returned to
02:33the Olympics four years later to step it up again, and this time he locked in the gold. Upon his
02:38final lift,
02:39he took his shoes off to symbolize his retirement from the sport. After completely and utterly defeating
02:44his critics and achieving everything he'd always known he could.
