by Robb Fulcher
Editor’s note: Mira Costa graduate Cliff Meidl (Class of ‘84) competed in kayaking in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. He was selected by his fellow American Olympians to carry the American Flag during the opening ceremonies. In an interview this week, he credited his younger brother Norman for motivating him to “use the tools you have,” and the Lanakila Outrigger Canoe Club for giving him the opportunity to resume competition after his accident. The following story is reprinted from Easy Reader, September 14, 2000.
Kayak racer Cliff Meidl, 34, of Manhattan Beach is competing in his second Olympiad, continuing a story that cannot be regarded as less than amazing.
Meidl cannot compete in land-based sports because of a Nov. 19, 1986 electrical accident that blew out his knees. He was operating a jackhammer on a Hawthorne street, working for a contractor, when the jackhammer struck three power cables that had not been shut down.
The cables sent 30,000 volts through his body, blowing off two toes, parts of his knees and shoulder blades. He was knocked unconscious and suffered an instant heart attack. He was stuck to the jackhammer for about 30 seconds before a circuit breaker stopped the current.
Paramedics revived him, but he suffered two more heart attacks, one in the ambulance and another at the hospital, from the electricity remaining in his body.
Rather than amputating both legs, physicians took the experimental step of using part of a calf muscle to replace parts of his knees. He spent three months in a wheelchair and then two years on crutches.
In time he rejoined the King Harbor-based Lanakila outrigger club.
He took up the kayak in 1992, made the US Olympic Team in 1996. He returned to the 2000 Games for sprint kayaking in the one-man and four-man 1,000 meters and the one-man and two-man 500 meters. ER
