One of these moments was the point in the men's 400 metres semi-finals at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics where Britain's Derek Redmond pulled up in the back straight with a hamstring injury - and was soon joined by a figure from the stands who helped him in his agonised but determined progress to the line long after the rest of the field had finished.

My contribution to this celebratory footage when it eventually went out had been edited down to one scintillating statement of the obvious: "And then he suddenly stopped running."

The contribution made by Jim Redmond as he brushed aside officials to assist his struggling son was timeless; iconic. And it has been recalled all over again this month following the sad news of Redmond senior's death at the age of 81.

I can still remember the feeling in the Montjuic Stadium as this unscheduled spectacle played out. There was a kind of confused, empathetic noise - not the kind you usually hear at sporting events. It was as if the entire arena had a lump in its throat.

In September 2009 I interviewed Derek Redmond at his home in Northampton - just five minutes down the road from where his mum and dad lived - and was able to apprise him of how that family moment in Olympic history had just been honoured by the then President of the United States, Barack Obama.

As part of his speech in support of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Obama had spoken of the special place the Games had in people's psyches, adding: "They’re the sources of fleeting moments - instants, really - that have become permanently seared in our collective memories. The humble victory of Jesse Owens. The perfection of Nadia and Mary Lou. Michael Johnson's astonishment at his own feat. Derek Redmond and Kerri Strug bravely making it through with a little help."

"I didn’t have a clue about it until you told me," said Redmond, who was British record holder with 44.50sec at the time of the Barcelona race and in the form of his life after many years of injury.

"It’s quite impressive to get a mention from the President of the United States. It’s pretty cool - an honour. At least one of his speech-writers knows who I am!

"For some reason the whole 1992 episode is really big news in America. 

"I get 10 or 15 e-mails every week from people saying how inspiring they found it to watch my Dad and I in Barcelona, and more than half of them come from the States.

"Maybe some people look at the footage and don’t see me as a medal contender, but as someone whose gold medal is just to be at the Olympics, so it’s a bit like Eric the Eel swimming at the Games, where his victory lies just in finishing.

"But the biggest thing about it was the fact that it was a dad who came to protect his son. Every parent can relate to that, to being there for their child. And there are a lot more parents out there than there are Olympians.

"I’ve had people telling me how it has helped them overcome illness and helped them in their studies. I’ve had kids in Canada writing to say their athletics teams have not been doing well recently but how they have all been determined to go out and improve after watching me. It seems to have touched a lot of people’s lives and given them a sense of hope.

"I also get a lot of interest from churches. They seem to see what happened in Barcelona as being very significant, especially the fact that it was my dad who was helping me. 

"I have seen them use what happened to signify the relationship between God and Jesus. In fact one church in the States has turned the scene with my dad and me into part of a religious musical!"

For all his talent, and records, Redmond acknowledged that the collapse and recovery in Barcelona had come to be his defining moment. 

It formed a major part of his work as a motivational speaker on the corporate circuit, where he has regularly addressed both small groups of businessmen from blue chip companies, and larger gatherings - his record audience was the 25,000 who gathered to hear him and others during an event at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre.

"I show the footage of Barcelona," he said. 

"I don’t like to watch it myself. But I always know the moment when I stop running because the audience gives this big intake of breath."

Enter Dad…

Meanwhile another stirring father-and-son moment in athletics has been officially marked with last night’s announcement that Jake Wightman, the world 1500m champion, has been named as Scottish Athlete of the Year - and his father, Geoff, as Performance Coach of the Year.

On a warm evening during the 1990 European Athletics Championships in Split I sat in a beautiful square and had dinner with the then Athletics Correspondent of the Sunday Times, Cliff Temple.

There were two other invited parties - Geoff, who had finished sixth in a marathon won by Italy’s Olympic champion Gelindo Bordin, and his future wife, Susan Tooby, who in 1986 had finished sixth in the Commonwealth Games 10,000m and two years later had placed twelfth in the Seoul Olympics marathon and then become the first British woman to run a sub-70min half marathon in finishing runner-up to Grete Waitz at the Great North Run.

Susan had finished 20th in the women's European marathon, and both were ready to relax and enjoy themselves.

That two such athletic talents should produce another was hardly a shock. 

But when Jake, already a Commonwealth and European bronze medallist from 2018, went for broke around the final bend of this year's World Athletics Championships 1500m final, taking on and beating Norway's 21-year-old wunderkind and Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen with a replica of his own finishing tactics it was - astounding. Astonishing. And for British fans, glorious.

Even more astonishing was the fact that his father and coach, in his professional role, was occupying the stadium commentary box at the time and calling the race.

It had happened before, of course, at other meetings where son and commentator dad had been involved. 

No one would have guessed at the link from what was audible in those arenas.

But surely, surely, as he watched Jake draw ever closer to the line at Hayward Field, dad's urge to scream something partisan - "Go on my son!" "Attaboy!" "YEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!" - must have been intolerably hard to resist.

Resist it he did, however, only mentioning the link after the race as he explained why the screens were showing footage of him in his eyrie.

"I have got to tell you why the camera is on me," said Wightman senior.

"That’s my son. I coach him. And he’s the world champion."

Unique.