what makes a champion
At the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Hitler packed all the events with German athletes (and some German non-athletes) in the belief that with a preponderance of attendance the teutonic types would have to win all the medals. Any German athletes who lost their events were required to leave immediately; Hitler didn't want them in the stands watching the competition and providing visible proof that the "master race" can lose to members of other ethnic groups. We all know what happened when Jesse Owens won his event.
Among the German non-athletes competing in 1936 was my mother. Well, face it, she was only 12 years old at the time. Why anyone would think even a fast little 12-year-old girl would be able to outrun seasoned athletes of any ethnic type is beyond me, but that's why we peg Hitler as insane now. Be that as it may, there she was, with 3 other little 12-year-old girls, running a relay race in the 1936 Olympics. Of course, they lost their first heat, and since Hitler didn't understand what the Olympics are all about, they were packed off home, not allowed to watch any of the other competitions. Understandably, those Olympics were kind of a non-event for my mother, who remembers it more as a time of frustration, disappointment, and exhaustion than anything else.
So she doesn't have, as I would if she lived with me, a neon sign, or even just a plaque on the door: "Home of Anna Schneider Bryan, Olympian 1936". But unlike Hitler, she does get it. She was there, and she competed, even if only briefly. She's right up there with Mark Spitz, with all his medals. She did her best, just like Michelle Kwan who, when she decided her injury wouldn't allow her to compete as well as she knew she could, stepped aside so that the young hopeful Emily Hughes would have a chance to compete. All those Olympians who are faint hopes for their nations, even jokes for the media of countries sending "medal hopefuls", are as much Olympians as any of the best athletes in the world.
The ones who don't get it, those who take forbidden drugs, those who pout when they don't get a medal (or their medals are the wrong color), those who gleefully accept the rulings of suborned judges -- now, those are NOT the true Olympians. The point that they don't get is that the Olympics are not there for people to win. They exist for the free exercise and demonstration of peaceful, open, honorable competition, and the celebration of excellence in all matters of sport.
I love the Olympics. My family ranges from weekend athletes to confirmed couch potatoes, but we have watched them on TV ever since US networks started showing them. We cheer the Americans and the Germans and the athletes of the host country, we cheer the great runs and performances no matter who does them, we cheer and tear up for the very last runner or skier straggling in exhausted, we ache for the athlete sidelined by accident or sudden injury. We sneer at the NHL, who refused to tweak their schedules so that the Olympians who play hockey for them could attend the opening ceremonies. We sneer at the sore losers, the cheaters, and the pompous, all those who don't understand that they are winners, they are Olympians, merely by being there. The podium is wonderful, no doubt. But all national and international competitions have podia and medals. No competition is like the Olympics. Nothing is like the Olympics.
The chance that a past, active, or wannabe Olympian is reading this is even more slight than the chance my mother had to win a medal in 1936. But I say to you who are reading this: if you were there, remember: you are for all time an example of the best humanity can be: able to strive to be the best and to strive honorably in peaceful concord. If you are learning your sport and training in hopes of going, remember: it is the achievement of being there that makes you great, not the result of your competition. Just do your best, and like Mark Spitz, Michelle Kwan, Emily Hughes, and my mother, you will be an Olympian forever.
Among the German non-athletes competing in 1936 was my mother. Well, face it, she was only 12 years old at the time. Why anyone would think even a fast little 12-year-old girl would be able to outrun seasoned athletes of any ethnic type is beyond me, but that's why we peg Hitler as insane now. Be that as it may, there she was, with 3 other little 12-year-old girls, running a relay race in the 1936 Olympics. Of course, they lost their first heat, and since Hitler didn't understand what the Olympics are all about, they were packed off home, not allowed to watch any of the other competitions. Understandably, those Olympics were kind of a non-event for my mother, who remembers it more as a time of frustration, disappointment, and exhaustion than anything else.
So she doesn't have, as I would if she lived with me, a neon sign, or even just a plaque on the door: "Home of Anna Schneider Bryan, Olympian 1936". But unlike Hitler, she does get it. She was there, and she competed, even if only briefly. She's right up there with Mark Spitz, with all his medals. She did her best, just like Michelle Kwan who, when she decided her injury wouldn't allow her to compete as well as she knew she could, stepped aside so that the young hopeful Emily Hughes would have a chance to compete. All those Olympians who are faint hopes for their nations, even jokes for the media of countries sending "medal hopefuls", are as much Olympians as any of the best athletes in the world.
The ones who don't get it, those who take forbidden drugs, those who pout when they don't get a medal (or their medals are the wrong color), those who gleefully accept the rulings of suborned judges -- now, those are NOT the true Olympians. The point that they don't get is that the Olympics are not there for people to win. They exist for the free exercise and demonstration of peaceful, open, honorable competition, and the celebration of excellence in all matters of sport.
I love the Olympics. My family ranges from weekend athletes to confirmed couch potatoes, but we have watched them on TV ever since US networks started showing them. We cheer the Americans and the Germans and the athletes of the host country, we cheer the great runs and performances no matter who does them, we cheer and tear up for the very last runner or skier straggling in exhausted, we ache for the athlete sidelined by accident or sudden injury. We sneer at the NHL, who refused to tweak their schedules so that the Olympians who play hockey for them could attend the opening ceremonies. We sneer at the sore losers, the cheaters, and the pompous, all those who don't understand that they are winners, they are Olympians, merely by being there. The podium is wonderful, no doubt. But all national and international competitions have podia and medals. No competition is like the Olympics. Nothing is like the Olympics.
The chance that a past, active, or wannabe Olympian is reading this is even more slight than the chance my mother had to win a medal in 1936. But I say to you who are reading this: if you were there, remember: you are for all time an example of the best humanity can be: able to strive to be the best and to strive honorably in peaceful concord. If you are learning your sport and training in hopes of going, remember: it is the achievement of being there that makes you great, not the result of your competition. Just do your best, and like Mark Spitz, Michelle Kwan, Emily Hughes, and my mother, you will be an Olympian forever.
posted by Carrie | 11:14 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home