Written by With the 2021 Olympics finally at an end, taking a look at some of the results and outcomes of these events seems rather pertinent when it comes to the frame of mind of the athletes, and particularly the spectators.
As we all are aware, this year’s events were originally scheduled to be held in 2020, however, the global pandemic prevented Tokyo from hosting until now. It also saw a number of new events added to the roster which may have drawn some criticism from traditionalists comparing it to the X Games. Yes, while it is true that when the original Olympics were held, there was no surfing, skateboarding, or BMX events, the organizers have realized that in order to draw in the audiences, they needed to appeal to a much wider target group. It also shows that the Olympics do not have to be focused solely on sports or events that are more commonplace and that they can adjust with the times. Whether or not we will see some of these events continue to carry over every four years remains to be seen, but it is still good to acknowledge that there are so many sports with world-class athletes in them and they should be recognized on the global stage of the Olympics.
There has also been, and will always be, some level of controversy when it comes to the athletes in each sport. While it would be fantastic to say that there are no athletes involved in performance-enhancing substance use, and they are all using natural talent, it is also hard to say that is the case when there are countries that will essentially put kids into a particular sport at an extremely young age in order to get them prepared to compete at the Olympic-level.
The aspect of the Olympics that has always bothered me is when some “armchair Olympian” will make a comment about how such-and-such athlete only ended up in 11th place in an event on the news or social media. The part of this that is most annoying is that these critics are essentially saying this athlete did not perform as well as the critic believes they should have. To put this into perspective, the athlete who earned 11th place in the Men’s Diving competition, Brandon Loschiavo, did not just earn 11th place for the Olympics, he earned 11th place in the entire world. He may not have earned an Olympic medal, but the number of athletes he did beat out to not only get to the Olympics in the first place, but to end up as the 11th overall finisher, is absolutely impressive.
To paraphrase the oft-memed Lord of the Rings quote about walking into Mordor, “One does not simply walk into the Olympics” (unless, of course, one is talking about speed-walking). To get to the Olympics in the first place, athletes have to put in incredible amounts of work, time, and energy just to qualify for their national team. Getting to the final rounds of competition requires additional work and competition requiring athletes to be at their absolute best every day of competition. So, to derisively say that an athlete “only came in in 11th” is absolutely demeaning to that athlete and the work ethic they have had throughout their careers, on top of everything else going on in their lives.
We, as spectators, should acknowledge the, for lack of a better term, Olympian effort required to get to this stage and compete. The same should also be said to the athletes. While they may feel like they let their team and country down by not earning an Olympic medal, they competed in the Olympics! Not many people in the world get to say that, and even fewer still get to say they even earned 11th place in the Olympics.
I am not advocating for participation trophies for everyone, just a little more perspective when it comes to looking at how these athletes are treated. The same can be said of all sports where there is significant competition. By acknowledging the effort and work required to get to the highest possible levels of a sport, even if it does not earn the competitor a trophy or medal, we are showing that we, as spectators or fellow athletes, appreciate the competition and recognize the value of good sportsmanship, something the Olympics are supposed to be the pinnacle of representing.
If organizations, and individuals, are able to understand the effort and time it took for them to become really good at something, to the point where they are considered an expert in their field, then maybe we will be less likely to criticize those that may not have reached that point yet. One does not get to be at the podium just by sheer luck, and this is something the Olympics show us every two years in competition, and it also shows us that hard work and effort may not always lead to the very top, but it will absolutely get you into the arena.