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Most of the people exiting United Airlines Flight 7072 didn’t understand the fuss.
About 75 people were clogging the reception area at Fort Wayne International Airport on Tuesday, many wearing red, white and blue and clutching American flags or homemade signs.
After being informed they were on the same plane as an Olympic gold medalist, some passengers joined the gathering.
As soon as Woodburn native Lloy Ball was visible coming down an escalator at 3:42 p.m., the group erupted in a chant of “U-S-A.” Ball, dressed in red, white and blue with the shiny gold medal hanging around his neck, waved and smiled.
He tried to soak in the atmosphere, log another memory from an incredible 72-hour span.
Days after helping the U.S. men’s volleyball team win the gold – Ball’s first medal in four Olympics – Ball gave interviews, accepted congratulations, absorbed hugs, took pictures and even delivered an impromptu speech.
He thanked the group for their support, love and energy over the past 12 years, his tenure as an Olympian. He told them the medal was “as much yours as it is mine.”
That’s why he pulled it out and displayed it around his neck Tuesday. He hadn’t worn the medal since receiving it with his teammates Sunday, he said. He had stored it in a soft case for his Oakley sunglasses to prevent scratching.
But this occasion warranted some sharing.
Along with friends and family, Ball was greeted by Mayor Tom Henry as well as a horde of media. He didn’t expect such a welcome, but it only cemented how Fort Wayne “is the best place ever to live,” he said.
“Obviously being a four-time Olympian, I thought, would probably be the claim to fame, but being able to add the cherry on the proverbial banana split is unbelievable,” said Ball, 36. “It’s something no one can ever take away from me. It’s something I’ve worked over a decade to try to accomplish, so it just makes it even more sweeter.”
Especially when the journey to get to this point wasn’t a smooth one.
Ball remembers sitting at home watching the Olympics as a 4-year-old and telling his dad, Arnie, he would be competing at that level someday. Arnie assisted in that goal, helping shape Lloy as a member of IPFW’s volleyball team, where Lloy earned All-America honors and then later as a coach in the Olympics.
But in Lloy’s first taste at an Olympics in Atlanta in 1996, the U.S. didn’t even advance out of pool play. In 2000 in Sydney, the team didn’t win a match. Lloy helped the team take fourth place in Athens in 2004.
Lloy’s wife pushed him to continue playing, and coach Hugh McCutcheon gave him another chance in Beijing, minus the captain label.
Even though the U.S. went undefeated, there still was adversity. Before the team’s first match, McCutcheon’s in-laws were attacked, and his father-in-law, Todd Bachman, was stabbed to death. Lloy Ball said the team focused on playing well.
After the U.S. beat No. 1 Brazil in the gold medal match, Lloy climbed into the stands to hug his wife, his son, his mother and, lastly, Arnie.
“It was a very emotional time,” Arnie Ball said. “I’m not sure how I can describe my emotions, pride and thankfulness because I know how hard he’s worked. … As a dad more than anything, I’m just very, very proud of him. I cried like everybody did.”
sclardie@jg.net
