Normally on Mondays I post photos of Friday night football, but today is an exception. Something bizarre happened in the universe and for the first time in years I was not on the sideline at a high school stadium over the weekend. At first I was a little bummed, but then I got a different sports assignment from the Statesman.
Olympic silver medalist and central Texan Leo Manzano was supposed to arrive home with a large celebration in Marble Falls on Sunday afternoon. MFHS (Manzano’s alma mater) hosted an event in his honor at the school auditorium.
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a bit of an Olympic nut. What?! A sports photographer?! No… Yes, really. I have a huge respect for the athletes who participate and I sincerely hope to witness the games in person some day.
Anyway, I arrived early as instructed by the people in charge and waited for Manzano to arrive. There was a small motorcade and he and his family appeared as scheduled. The first thing he did was pull out his silver medal for the men’s 1500 meter race in London.
Since he was a few minutes early, he answered a couple media questions…
…and went inside.
The program began with cheers and continued with Manzano and the crowd reminiscing over his Olympic performance, questions from coaches and friends, and honors from city officials.
The program ended with Manzano signing autographs. The great thing about Manzano being in his home town is that he got to sign things other than the regular post card photos. He signed babies…
He signed his jacket from the Bejing 2008 Olympics that Sarah Lewis and her brother Willis bought at an auction…
But probably the most unique item came from Francisco Montero. Manzano was a peer assistant leader (PAL) while he was a high school student at MFHS. PALs mentor younger students in the district and a then six-year-old Montero was assigned to Manzano. Manzano made a book for Montero that included some drawings, a short, hand-written biography of Manzano, and a photo of the two of them. Montero brought it to the event for Manzano to sign.
Afterward a motorcade was supposed to take Manzano to his home town of Granite Shoals, where festivities continued, but I had a deadline to meet, so my adventure ended in Marble Falls. I didn’t even have time to wait in line for an autograph.