Athletics are pretty cut and dry in one regard; the goal to win. Having been in competitive athletics in a prior life I can certainly attest to that. Often however I see something that does not make a lot of sense, the need for society to treat everyone equal and to somehow over do or condemn the competitive aspect. For instance; I question an article I read in Sports Illustrated Women in February of this year about the “Agony of Defeat”. The article discussed public humiliation, financial disappointment, and long-term psychological trauma? That is utter bull.
First if you are really in it to win it and for the challenge and the game itself, then money is not important. If you lose and you are humiliated maybe you should have tried harder and trained more. If you have long-term psychological trauma then you are not tough enough to be the gold medallist anyway. True winners are also previous true losers. The example used was a woman who broke a world record in the Olympics but received a silver medal instead of a gold. She then became suicidal and battled anorexia.
Look here it is, there is only one gold winner and that is what draws the toughest and best competitors in the world. If you cannot hack it, you should not be there. Part of being a top athlete is mental toughness, through and through. Vince Lombarde said that the toughest games draw out the toughest competitors. It is the same in war, politics, sports or business. Get use to it.
It was a touching article, but I believe that it missed the point. A silver medal in the Olympics is not a gold one, but if you are that good and you did not win, blame yourself, get over it and win it next time. You have to be mentally tough or do not compete. That is not a hard liner talking, it is the reality of the game. If you can’ handle it don’t play. Not everyone should be in the game. Think about it.
“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.
