By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
No Shreveporter, and not many people anywhere, knows the Olympic Games experience better than Kendrick Farris. Not enough see it for what we should, he says.
It wasn’t long ago that Farris, 38, competed as a weightlifter for Team USA in three Olympic Games: 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London and in Rio de Janerio in 2016.
He didn’t win a medal (yet*), but he did have impressive finishes, while setting an array of American records and personal bests. Because he was a staunch advocate and practitioner of drug free lifting, and due to advances in technology since he competed, Farris may eventually receive an Olympic medal. His best finish was eighth in the 85kg division in 2008, and a couple of disqualifications have moved him up to sixth currently.
But far be it for Farris, who rose to prominence under the guidance of LSUS’s Dr. Kyle Pierce, to evaluate his Olympic career by competitive results. He’s proud of what he accomplished but far more ebullient about what he experienced.
“The concept of me even being an Olympian, when I graduated from (Byrd) high school in 2004, was unthinkable. I didn’t even qualify for the Olympic Trials, and that puts what has happened since in perspective for me,” said Farris, who was the top American in his class over a 12-year span, setting records that still stand.
It is the impacts away from competition that he treasurers most.
In Beijing, he said, “the experience was great. I met a lot of great people from all over, some I still converse with to this day.
“In London, it was tremendous because there was no language barrier, like there was in China. I had a phenomenal experience in both places, but I could see the differences and that’s taking out the language barrier in Beijing. In 2012 I was able to do a lot more that I considered fun, meeting more people and supporting them – folks on a day-to-day basis who just happen to be the best in the world at what they do. You can learn from anyone, but especially people like that, with different backgrounds, from different places.
“I was connected with people who were like-minded: who wanted to experience different things, ask questions, show respect toward one another. I learned a lot and sometimes got away from the tourist spots, got invited into homes for dinner, experienced the laughs and gestures of different cultures, and it was an incredible education. You have to be interested in learning new things, putting yourself in what some consider uncomfortable situations traveling, and then you factor in competing, the reason you are there,” he said. “But it’s about more. I believe interacting with people is something we have to do.
Farris’s first Olympics were in a restrictive Communist country. Four years later, he was in the extraordinarily blended British culture, and his last Games were in ebullient Brazil. He and teammates had guides at each stop. “There was always the list of do’s and don’ts, and we had a concierge with us each time to help guide us,” he said.
With the Games lasting just a couple of weeks, and held only every four years, Farris was determined to take in as much as he could.
“You can feel it. You know it’s a very, very unique environment with a very brief opportunity to make the most of it, and I believe I did,” he said.
Farris’ scope of Olympic sports interests began by reflecting on a favorite movie from his younger days.
“It’s funny now. When I was growing up, Forrest Gump was a popular movie and that character went to the Olympics as a table tennis player, so I was drawn to our athletes in that sport. One of them, Lily Zhang, is still competing (in her fourth Olympics, having reached the round of 16 in women’s singles). I love that sport.
“Track and field, field hockey, synchronized swimming, water polo … I met so many incredible athletes. Taekwondo players, some from judo and wrestling, who I met in training or in the dining hall, and I got to support them and appreciate a lot of sports I hadn’t heard about.”
Farris and his wife Brittany are raising six children, ranging from 18 years old to 8 months, four sons and two daughters. As he watches the Paris Games, his sense of family expands immensely.
“I can sit there and see it, exactly, for what it is. This moment in time, whatever game they’re doing, those are somebody’s children out there. It is a pretty cool moment.
“I’m hoping everybody is able to do what they’ve done to get to that moment, or even better. If you set a personal record, it doesn’t matter what place you finish, you did the best you’ve ever done on that stage. I can see inside the production, feel the sincerity, if people are frustrated or angry, or if they are in the moment and thrilled at the outcome. I just want the best for everybody. All these people competing, from countries around the world, and no matter how intense they are, at the end there is a sportsmanship and a mutual respect when it finishes, and that can last forever.
“Being a part of it is very surreal. It showed me the possibility of what we could actually do on Earth. If people could be still for that moment, none of this other negativity is going on, how can we not refocus on the universal spirit of the Games?
“I actually know it’s a possibility,” said Farris. “ I have friendships around the world now and it’s not something that happens every four years. Those continue every day, every week, every month. It’s encouraging. We need to sustain the Olympic spirit.”
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com