Ali’s toughest opponent was the Parkinson’s he fought with great dignity, grace and humour
IT was one of the most tearjerking moments in global sporting history.
The world held its breath as a trembling Ali lit the flame at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, despite being ravaged by Parkinson’s.
It was a condition which had dogged the last three decades of his life.
It was, perhaps, the moment millions realised the full awful extent of the havoc the condition was wreaking on a man who has previously seemed hewn from granite.
“A moment of infinite sadness, yet supreme majesty,” is how US journalist Ken Rosenthal described the spectacle.
“You didn’t know whether to cheer or to cry.
“All you could do was watch and root once more for Muhammad Ali.”
The cruel condition stilled the dancing feet of the Ali shuffle and silenced the voice that had held the world in its thrall for so many years.
He developed the illness in 1984 when he was aged just 42, three years after retiring from his stellar boxing career.
“Even though Muhammad has Parkinson’s and his speech isn’t what it used to be, he can speak to people with his eyes,” wife Lonnie Ali said previously.
“He can speak to people with his heart, and they connect with him.”
She said doctors told her the disease was not the result of absorbing too many punches, but a genetic condition.
Ten weeks before Ali’s bout in 1980 against Larry Holmes, a team of doctors submitted a medical report to the Nevada State Athletic Commission describing a small hole in his brain’s outer layer and noting that the boxer reported a tingling sensation in his hands, as well as slurred speech. He retired permanently in 1981.
Parkinson’s is a progressive disorder of the nervous system.
It primarily affects a patient’s movement, often starting with a small tremor in the hand or muscle stiffness and getting worse over time.
There is no test for Parkinson’s, so it is occasionally misdiagnosed.
Parkinson’s patients often have trouble walking and talking. Symptoms include slowness of movement, a loss of balance and slurred speech.
With the disease, “you may have a decreased ability to perform unconscious movements, including blinking, smiling or swinging your arms when you walk,” according to experts.
The symptoms are often worse on one side of the body.
Parkinson’s – which affects 127,000 people in the UK – inspired a different
sort of fight and steely resolve in Ali.
In 1997 he helped establish the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center in Phoenix and became the face of the neurological disease.
In just under two decades, the centre, part of the Barrow Neurological Institute, has grown into the most comprehensive Parkinson’s research facility in the world.
Last night, a spokesman said that, although Ali rose to fame as a champion boxer, his legacy extends far beyond the sports world.
“I have watched him face Parkinson’s with grace and humour, and he has inspired countless patients to do the same,” said Dr Holly Shill, director of the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center.
“We have lost a great warrior in the battle with Parkinson’s, but hope continues for a better tomorrow.”
Her colleague, Dr Robert Spetzler, said even in death, Ali “continues to inspire us”.
“He made us all strive for greatness,” he said.
Fast forward a few years from Atlanta, and Ali took part in another opening ceremony, this time at the 2012 London Olympics, looking frail in a wheelchair.
Wearing dark shades and helped to his feet by wife Lonnie, he managed to make it to his feet for the final few steps of the Olympic flag’s journey.
His condition was markedly worse than an earlier public appearance in the UK.
Again in London in 1999, an audience of VIPs was moved to tears when Ali accepted an award at the glittering BBC Sports Personality of the Century awards.
The Greatest was shaking so much, he looked like he was going to drop the award.
But he stood his ground proudly, lapped up the applause and, with the impeccable timing of old, even joked about making a comeback.
Steve Ford, chief executive of the Parkinson’s UK charity, paid tribute to the former fighter and everything he has done to raise awareness of the condition.
“Muhammad Ali approached his life with Parkinson’s with great dignity and was an inspiration to millions,” he said.
“As one of the first high- profile figures to speak publicly about living with Parkinson’s, he opened the world’s eyes to this devastating condition.
“Diagnosed with Parkinson’s at just 42, he was clear that facing the daily challenge of the condition has been the other big fight of his life – and one which he faced head on, working tirelessly to raise funds, awareness and accelerate research.
“We, and many millions of people living with Parkinson’s, will remember his bravery.”
We have lost a great warrior in the battle with Parkinson’s, but hope continues. Dr Holly Shill,
director Muhammad Ali Parkinson
Center