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Belgian Olympic marathoner breaks down in tears of disbelief upon hearing she finished 28th

38-year-old Mieke Gorissen had only been training for three years and the Olympics was just her third marathon.

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Mieke Gorissen

Imagine deciding to take up a hobby that usually requires many years to perfect at age 35, and three years later ending up in the top 30 in the world at the highest international competition for it.

That's what happened to a 38-year-old math and physics teacher from Diepenbeek, Belgium. According to Runner's World, Mieke Gorissen has jogged 10km (a little over six miles) a few times a week for exercise for many years. But in 2018, she decided to hire a running trainer to improve her technique. As it turned out, she was a bit of a natural at distance running.

Three years later, Gorissen found herself running her third marathon. But not just any old marathon (as if there were such a thing)—the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics. And not only did she compete with the world's most elite group of runners, she came in 28th out of the 88 competing in the race.

With the heat and humidity in Tokyo, even completing the race was a major accomplishment. (Fifteen women competing did not finish the marathon.) But to come in in the top 30 when you just started focusing on distance running three years ago? Unbelievable.

In fact, Gorissen could hardly believe it herself. A video of her reaction upon hearing her results has gone viral for its purity and genuine humility. "No," she said when a reporter told her she came in 28th in the race. "That's not possible."

Then she burst into tears.

Her emotional disbelief is so moving. "I was already happy to finish the race," she said through sobs. "I do think I have reached my goal and that I can be happy."

"I also think I lost a toenail," she added, laughing.

Even after the English translation ends in the video, it's clear how much this finish meant to her. A remarkable accomplishment for a 38-year-old who knits and reads for fun and who has only run two marathons prior to competing in the Olympics.

According to her Olympic profile, she's glad she got started with distance running later in life. "If I started running in my teens, it wouldn't have been good for me," she said. "I wasn't really happy then, I would have been too hard on myself and I would have lost myself in it in a way that wasn't healthy. It came at exactly the right time."

Congratulations, Mieke. You've given us all the inspiration to set new goals and dream bigger than we ever thought possible.


This article originally appeared four years ago.

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John Cena drops unexpectedly profound wisdom about life and purpose on Kai Cenat livestream

His question, "Did I earn the sunset?" got people thinking.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore

John Cena speaking at the 2016 Phoenix Comicon Fan Fest

When you think about philosophers pondering the purpose of life, WWE wrestlers may not be the first people who come to mind. But professional wrestling star John Cena has been known to challenge perceptions, and in a surprise appearance on Kai Cenat's livestream, he's done it once again.

Kai Cenat is one of the most popular Twitch and YouTube streamers, with millions of viewers. In a clip from Cenat's stream that has gone viral, Cena explains how his view of his purpose in life has evolved and how he reflects on how he's living his life each day.

"I used to think I was put on Earth to be a wrestler. That was it. I was put on Earth to be a WW superstar," he said. "And then I started doing a little bit of acting and I'm like oh no, it's easy, I'm a storyteller. No, I'm a human being, breathing air like everybody else. And I'm significantly insignificant. I'm a grain of sand on a beach on a pale blue dot out in the middle of nowhere."

"I just want to be useful," he continued. "Life, to me, is a gift."

He explained that he understands he's been given "lottery ticket after lottery ticket after lottery ticket" in his life. "I am lucky," he said. "I understand my luck and I try to live each day grateful for my luck. So when the sun goes down, I look at what I did for the day, even if it's relax—did I earn the sunset? Some days I don't, and I motivate myself to try to do it again, but most days I do. And that's my sense of purpose."

Watch:

People loved Cena's thoughtful self-awareness and praised him for being a good example, especially for young men who might look online for examples of healthy masculinity.

Here are some things people said they learned from this clip:

"John Cena is actually smarter and cooler than I thought which in turn tells me that forming my opinions based on the few snippets i have seen online makes me judgemental and quite ignorant. I hope I remember this lesson and not rush to judge people I know almost nothing about."

"To be useful, To be grateful, To be productive, to be mentally wired to try again no matter what and lastly to have great self awareness."

"Reflect on your day, and what are you going to do better tomorrow."

"That the meaning of life is to be in the service of others. That everything from greed, pride, envy, etc is just type of self service, moving us away from the meaning, happiness, and purpose we can derive by living our lives for others."

"Humility, Accountability, and Gratitude."

"Do your best every single day so you can feel happy about yourself at the end of the day it's also okay to fall, just get up and try again."

"'Did I earn the sunset'? is an incredible line. That's gonna stick with me."

Cena talked with Cenat for about an hour in a wide-ranging conversation that ended with another motivational drop.

“Wow, this has been fun and here we are sharing a moment together—hopefully a moment of motivation, purpose, growth," said Cena as the stream wrapped up. "I guess if I would have to bestow some advice, take it if you want it. If not? It’s just advice. I would say, ‘Never give up.’ And that widens out to whatever lens you wanna put it in. I think as long as we’re breathing, we have a chance. We’re all eventually gonna get to the finish line.

"So, I don’t know. If you just attack every day with persistence and effort and follow your excitement and enthusiasm and never give up, especially through those hard times—'cause I’m not gonna act like it’s all roses and candy canes, there’ll be a bunch of hard times—just do your best, try to do the best you can, and never give up.”

Cena shares positive motivational messages on X in addition to interviews and has made a name for himself in the public eye as a genuine good guy. In an online environment where "influencers" are not always the greatest role models, it's refreshing to see a demonstrably "manly" man so unabashedly demonstrate self-reflection and humility.

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Nathan Fillion shared a sweet pay-it-forward story after a Costco employee helped his mom

Well done, Les from Costco. Well done, Fillion family. Thanks for giving us the boost of faith in humanity we need right now.

Nathan Fillion/Facebook

In a time when we've watched people fight over toilet paper, argue over mask-wearing and storm government buildings with firearms, a nice random act of kindness story is always appreciated. And when that random act of kindness happens to someone who is famous-adjacent, the impact somehow seems all the more pure.

Actor Nathan Fillion, best known for his starring roles in the TV series Firefly (and subsequent movie, Serenity) and Castle, shared one such story on Facebook back in 2020—and people are still loving it. After all, two things will always remain timeless in our collective hearts: Nathan Fillion and Costco.

He wrote:

"The other day in Canada, a woman buying gas at a Costco had trouble with her credit card. The attendant bought her gas out of his own pocket and asked only that she pay it forward. That Costco was in Edmonton, that attendant was Les Thompson, and Les? That woman was my mother. You restore my faith in humanity, sir. My dad and I are sending three iPads and headphones to a nearby senior care facility so that folks there can visit with their families. Right now, we could all stand to be less afraid, and a little more Les. (Canada, Costco, Les, iPads, and my mom not pictured.)"


Fillion's post has been shared nearly 30,000 times, and commenters have expressed their gratitude for highlighting the fact that there are lots of good people out there. Some said they were proud to be Canadian. (Canada is well known for the general kindness of its people.) Others said the story reminded them that hope is not lost, even in the face of fairly constant bad news. Some inquired as to whether or not Fillion was married. (He's not.) But most simply thanked him for sharing a seemingly small, but oh-so-meaningful story about the power of a simple, selfless act of generosity.

Well done, Les from Costco. Well done, Fillion family. Thanks for giving us the boost of faith in humanity we need right now.


This article originally appeared on 5.27.20

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Nike employee goes from intern to CEO in 30 years

He's like if "Just Do It" was a person.

LinkedIn & Nike

Elliott Hill doesn't fit the usual mold of CEO of a multi-billion dollar global corporation.

He wasn't brought in from some fancy consultancy to cut the bottom line and boost profits. On the contrary. He worked his way up from the very bottom.

In this day and age, that's a pretty remarkable feat.

After being announced as the next leader of the storied company, a screenshot of Hill's LinkedIn profile went mega viral.

Why?

Well, just take a look.

Hill has only worked one place — Nike — where he started as a simple intern over 30 years ago. Now he's the CEO.

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Obviously, it was a long journey.

Hill spent two years as an intern, then worked his way up through Sales before becoming a VP. That alone took 10 years of hard work.

A few years later he was a President-level executive, and he continued to work on many different teams and divisions for the global brand, gaining valuable knowledge and experience with many different facets of the company

Hill briefly retired from Nike in 2020 before being recruited to come back this year.

Bringing Hill back on board comes on the heels of the previous President & CEO stepping down from the role.

John Donahoe was a former management consultant and previously served as the CEO of eBay and of a cloud computing company before joining Nike.

He was big on tech, big on cost-cutting, and big on layoffs. But he didn't know much about sneakers, or the Nike brand. The results were disastrous for what as once the biggest sneaker brand on the planet.

So Nike looked at its own homegrown talent to find a replacement, seeking someone who not only got the brand and business, but respected and understood its core customers.

Based on tenure and experience, there weren't many better candidates than Hill!

No one would ever accuse Nike of always doing the right thing over the years. But this is one good example that other companies should follow: promoting from within.

It's not a great look to bring in an outsider, hired-gun CEO to the tune of a nearly $30 million pay package, only for that person to ruthlessly slash jobs.

But it seems to be a popular choice for big companies these days: Tap a leader who will blindly optimize for profit and shareholder value and/or strip the company for parts. Capitalism, baby!

Nike the corporation will probably be more-or-less fine either way. It's the passionate sneakerheads and the dedicated employees who get hurt — the people who make the brand what it is.

Sean Lemson, a leadership development coach and author, wrote on LinkedIn:

"It was very hard for me to watch (and be swept up in) the way John and other leaders from Silicon Valley just completely devalued the nike-blooded employees who were let go over the years."

Heather Smit, a marketing and creative operations professional at Nike, was extremely candid in her own post:

"Though I survived and even thrived amidst the 2 massive reorganizations John led, they have left us with bumps, bruises, and even scars. We lost a lot. We’ve been through hell and back in the last 5 years under John’s leadership. We’re still here because we LOVE this company and we know we deserve better. The consumer deserves better. Elliott doesn’t have an easy job ahead of him, but he’s got about 80,000 hopeful and energized employees behind him, ready to go."

It's not often you find yourself rooting for a millionaire CEO, but Elliott Hill's story is just so dang inspiring we might not have a choice.

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