She is a little piece of woman, knee-high to a grasshopper…
With her look of a forever teenager, she seems to excuse himself on the finish line when she realises she bothers photographers trying to shoot her chasers… Sorry to be here, surprised to be so strong maybe, when she kisses in a sob Jodie Stimpson that she beat from a breath after an ontological sprint. Yet, this is the 4th victory and 18th podium in the World Series for the frenchiest of the Kiwis… An incredible track record and longevity… Strength of passion… But it is the 1st time that the mask is falling off and that I see the New Zealander crying when mentioning what gave her the strength to beat Jodie in the last twenty meters of the race.
A year ago, the triathlon world was giving a last tribute to Laurent Vidal on this same race of Abu Dhabi. Did she need a whole year to accomplish this resilience? She will certainly need a whole life, but the symbol is beautiful. Triathlon gathered these two exceptional human beings. Even if Andre never gave up on competition, today, I feel like she revives. She was stronger than ever… Surely because she finally agrees not to keep inside everything that would have all overflow at some point and that, maybe, preventing her from completely express herself.
Expressing its own feelings, such a difficult thing. We sometimes feel that it looks like an admission of weakness…. What a mistake! This little wonder in a black jersey with the LV on her breast showed us the exact opposite in a brilliant way.
Because winning is nothing… no… winning is nothing if we don’t share feelings, joy, sorrow, it its moments.
Andre Hewitt made me cry today behind my laptop. Her humid eyes, her trembling voice, her embarrassed smile and her incredible class drove me way over sport, performance, victory and glory that can come with it.
When strength, humility, and a huge humanity is in one same person, we can only be admiring.
It’s a little piece of women knee-high to a grasshopper… it’s true…
But Mrs Hewitt, believe me, if you read this, you are immense.
“There is only one thing stronger than death, it’s the presence of the absentees in the living memory.” Jean d’Ormesson
Massive and HUGE. So INSPIRATIONAL TO US ALL. AN ABSOLUTELY MOVING ARTICLE, ON AN ABSOLUTELY GREAT ATHLETE.