“It brought it all home to me that we’re not always going to be what we once were and the whole point of it is using who you are to inspire people to do great things, to be their best,” Evans said. “And so for me to stand there for that brief moment with him and realize that he would never get back in a boxing ring and box like he did in 1960 but he was there. He was present. That was how I left Atlanta. That I don’t have to win, I want to win, but I can still do great things with my position as an Olympian.
“It changed my perspective on many things. I think in many ways it was indelible for me but clearly it made me want to give back to the Olympic movement, made me want to be a part of this, because he inspired me to do that.”
In the years after Atlanta, Evans would spend much of her time mentoring and inspiring future Olympians and everyday athletes both near and far. She would also occasionally see Ali at events, the gleam in his eyes still just as bright, his hugs just as tight as the one that swept her off her feet in Atlanta a few days after the opening ceremony, the first time they had a chance to spend time together.
“He basically picked me up in this massive hug. It was amazing. It was … ” Evans said, her voice halted by the emotion of the memory. “No words.”
While Ali’s death was hardly a shock to Evans, she acknowledged she was surprised how much it seemed to knock her off her bearings. She often channeled Ali in her dealings with young athletes.
“It was always kind of nice knowing he was here,” she said. “That he was somehow present in that moment. And now he’s not here makes me really sad.”
She found comfort, however, that last September during an event in Louisville she was able to tell Ali how much the moment in Atlanta meant to her, how much it had impacted her life.
That in the ensuing years she would realize that while she transferred the flame that would illuminate the Games, it was Ali who was passing the torch.
“After those Olympics, I wanted to quit swimming and go back to college, and I don’t know what I wanted to do,” Evans told Ali in a speech at the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards. “But after standing there with that man and watching him, I realized that as an Olympian, as an Olympic champion, a mantle we carry is to inspire and motivate others. And no one has ever done that greater than Muhammad Ali.
“So, Mr. Ali, thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for allowing me to continue to inspire young swimmers and young people to do and be the very best that they can be as well.”