Commonwealth Games 2018: How Chris Remkes vaulted from an orphanage to a gold medal
TATTOOED on Chris Remkes’ right rib cage is a quote which has guided him from a Filipino orphanage to a Commonwealth Games gold medal for Australia.
TATTOOED on Chris Remkes’ right rib cage is a quote which has guided him from a Filipino orphanage to a Commonwealth Games gold medal for Australia.
“Family isn’t always blood, it’s the people in your life that want you in theirs,” it reads.
As of late Friday, Australia had won 63 gold medals on the Gold Coast but surely none are as inspiring as the story of Remkes who spent the first two-and-a-half years of his life at an orphanage in Bacolod before being adopted by Adelaide couple Mark and Dora Remkes.
His journey also explains the other tattoo behind his left ear which is just two tiny dots but both with a very powerful meaning.
“It represents heaven and earth — heaven is like at the highest point of your life stay humble and at the lowest point of your life on earth stay hopeful,” says Remkes, who is proud of his Christian faith.
Remkes has always been hopeful and after becoming an overnight sensation at these Games he is also staying humble despite hundreds of people stopping him on the streets for a photo, to hold his medal or say congratulations.
When he walked into a cafe at Broadbeach on Wednesday morning a lady who was a complete stranger held up her hand for Remkes to high five as he walked past. Nothing was said and it didn’t need to be because that high five said it all.
“Last night someone actually paid for dinner for my friends and I,” Remkes said.
“We were out having dinner at a restaurant and there was a family behind me who noticed me, and they said they saw me on TV.
“Then later on when I was at the counter they came up and offered to pay for dinner. It was really nice.
“It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions from standing on the podium until now it’s been crazy, and really good publicity for gymnastics.
“I think it helps Gymnastics Australia a lot and hopefully things will keep moving forward from here.”
And right there is how Remkes is staying humble. He’s happy to take the pats on the back but mostly he’s happy that people are talking about his sport which is only in the public’s sporting conscience once every two or four years.
The ball of muscle — who stands 147cm and weighs 47kg — ended a 24-year drought for Australia by winning gold in the vault last week to complete the fairytale story of the Games.
How Remkes, now 21, came to be at the orphanage on the second day of his life remains private but he came to terms with that a long time ago.
“I think that’s shaped me a lot, to be a stronger person knowing about my background,” he said.
“Mentally and physically knowing even though I was born in an orphanage there has always been someone behind my back and supporting me.
“I’ve met a kid in Canberra who also does gymnastics and he’s also adopted and to hear that I was adopted means absolutely everything to him.
“He kind of sees me as an inspiration and it’s really nice to see that sort of stuff.”
Adopted at the age of two-and-a-half in 2000, he has no recollection of life before that but his father Mike said there was a connection at first sight.
“We got a phone call from the adoption agency in Adelaide saying they had a couple of candidates we could have a look at, and the first one they gave us was a file on Chris,” Mike said.
“There was supposed to be no photographs in there whatsoever but on the very back page in black and white was a photocopy of his photograph and straight away we said ‘he’s for us, it’s a very sad story anyway, but as soon as we saw the photo we said ‘he’s ours’.”
Six months later they made the trip to Manilla and then to Bacolod to collect Chris.
“They’ve got so many in an orphanage being a developing country — children are a luxury not a necessity — and a lot of families can’t afford to look after their children so they give them up for adoption,” Mike said.
“The orphanages are always overcrowded and they mix up a huge meal and everyone gets a serve from that bowl, and they’re usually two to a cot.”
Remkes was raised by his new family in Happy Valley, a southern suburb of Adelaide, and went to primary school at Aberfoyle Park and later Ascot Park which had a specialist gymnastics program.
His introduction to the sport was similar to most kids his age through kinder gym. Only Remkes realised he not only loved it but he was also very good at it so pursued it seriously.
He went to Hamilton Secondary College before moving to the AIS in Canberra in 2015 where he now trains 30 hours a week in the gym, honing skills and preparing his body.
He describes his childhood as like any other typical Aussie kid.
“There was nothing different, nowhere where I felt out of place or not accepted,” he said.
“I tried other sports when I was younger but dad told me to stick to one sport and I kept coming back to gymnastics.”
He’s also grown up with a brother, now 16, and sister, 19, who aren’t biologically related to him but were adopted from Manilla.
“My brother used to do some gymnastics but now he’s into his soccer, and my sister did a little bit of gymnastics but is now working,” Remkes said.
“Having my dad follow me in the gymnastics career, he’s a coach and judge now. When I started getting into it he thought ‘what can I do to help out the club?’ so he started coaching and was my coach too at one point.
“It was so nice to share the gold medal with them (parents). I can’t put it into words. I saw them pretty much straight after I finished and I was speechless.
“During competition I enjoy the moment and try to do my best but at the end of the Games I’ll have a sit down and look back at what’s happened.
“I’ll look back on my journey and think from where I started to where I am now, but it obviously doesn’t stop here because I want to compete at the Olympics and I will definitely aim towards Tokyo.
“Hopefully something can spark from this but it’s a waiting game.”
Mike said he was proud of Chris for the man he had become — gold medal or not.
“Always, always, first and foremost. I’ve brought him up in hopefully a mirror image of how I think people should be and certainly the way I was brought up. To be very respectful of others and do the best at everything you do,” he said.
Mike also hopes his son’s gold medal sends a message to other kids in his situation or to families thinking about adoption — that they can change lives for the better.
“I hope they take that away from Chris’ story, it’s one of hope and education to a big degree as to how to treat others,” he said.
Chris said he may go back to the Philippines one day and if he does he wants to take his medal to deliver the most powerful message possible to the kids who are there now — that it doesn’t matter where you come from, anything is possible.
“When I feel like the time is right I’ll go back,” he said.
“I’m not in a rush but when I feel it’s right to go back I will go and I’d like to go back and have a look at the orphanage and have a chat with them.”
reece.homfray@news.com.au
Originally published as Commonwealth Games 2018: How Chris Remkes vaulted from an orphanage to a gold medal
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