The Astronaut.
And yet Woody Spring might not be any prouder of his own accomplishments than he became yesterday afternoon in the hallway of a Center City hotel. That's when Justin Spring, 24, defied long odds to become another kind of archetype.
The Olympian.
"It's just different prides," said Woody Spring, tapping his chest as he sat in a Wachovia Center suite last night. "I'm not in the news anymore. I've had my turn. Now it's his turn."
"He doesn't say much," Justin Spring said. "My mother had to tell me how closely he has been following my career and how excited he is about it. That means so much, to know that my dad, someone I've always idolized, is proud of me."
With that, the newly minted member of the U.S. men's Olympic gymnastics team wiped away the tears that had sprung from his eyes.
It was a day for raw emotions. Spring came to Philadelphia for the gymnastics trials less than two weeks after a late-night visit to the emergency room for back pain that shot down his left leg. He'd been told by USA Gymnastics insiders that he was "not in the mix" for a spot on the six-man team.
"I had no chance," Spring said.
Free from the pressure of expectations, though, he delivered two days' worth of impossible-to-ignore performances. When he left the arena Saturday night, he knew he'd at least given himself a chance.
Spring hopes eternal?
"My dad actually pointed out that it was a full moon," Spring said. "When he went into space, he actually launched on a full moon. He told me the stars were aligned and this was going to happen."
And so it did, making Spring perhaps the most compelling surprise to emerge from the four days of brilliance and heartbreak, soaring highs and sudden falls, at this quadrennial passion play.
