I’ve been following the news stories coming out of the Winter Olympics in Beijing these last few weeks.
The stories I’ve found most intriguing have been around women’s figure skating.
Kamila Valieva — an athlete favored for gold who skated for the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) — failed a drug test weeks ago, but the results were not known until after the Olympics began.
She’s only 15 years old, and many blame the adults around her for the drug use. After some initial rulings by the powers that be, she was allowed to continue skating in the Olympics while the circumstances around her failed drug test were investigated.
In the final skate, Valieva was expected to win gold but fell multiple times and ended up placing fourth. The world watched as her coach criticized her on global television for falling, and the 15-year-old fell apart in tears.
The woman who did win gold, Anna Shcherbakova (also with the ROC), was disappointed because despite winning gold, all of the attention was on Valieva for failing to medal.
The woman who won silver, Alexandra Trusova (also a teammate with the ROC), was also in tears for failing to win gold.
The whole situation surrounding this event just seems to be a complete disaster.
To be #1 out of 3.9 billion women in the world and be disappointed seems bizarre (yet totally understandable, given the very unusual circumstances)…
To be #2 out of 3.9 billion women in the world and to be so devastated as to initially refuse to participate in the medal ceremony…
To be #4 out of 3.9 billion women in the world, have all your accomplishments questioned due to a failed drug test, fall multiple times, and then have your coach chew you out in front of a global television audience can’t feel good.
I’m hardly a women’s figure skating expert. However, I do have daughters in the same age range as these young women. In my (perhaps naive) mind, I think of the spirit of the Olympics as everyone skating their absolute best and seeing where the medals land.
Seeing figure skating as an unmitigated emotional and psychological disaster for these young women is painful to witness. Numerous sports commentators and dignitaries have made similar comments.
In moments like these, I don’t focus on the medal count. I focus on these three Russian women who are, in my mind, first and foremost, human beings. I may be wrong, but it seems like they see their primary role as winning gold medals (where even winning silver is seen as a complete failure).
I hope these women (and the adults around them) allow themselves to be human beings separate from how they perform in the medal count.
My personal value is that winning at all costs is not worth it. There’s a line beyond which winning is just not worth it. Where that line is will vary by person. I can’t help but think these women have crossed or been pushed over that line.
How to Live an Amazing Life – Sign Up for Free Tips and Strategies for your Career and Life.
This form collects your name and email so that we can add you to our email list that delivers the free resources you are requesting. Check out our privacy policy for details on how we protect and manage your submitted data.
We’ll never spam you or share your email. Unsubscribe at any time.
8 thoughts on “The Olympics: Winning at All Costs”
Interesting how this article came to highlight the culture of a country that struggles to see limits of what is enough.
Thank you, Victor, for your thoughts here in this article. I fully agree with your statement that winning at all costs is not worth it.
I also believe that it is a skill to see the line where the crossing can bring more dissatisfaction than satisfaction. Many times an underapreciated skill. But one that I see over and over you trying to bring it up in your writings. Thank you for giving us so many topics for reflection. It particularly has helped me a lot to live a happier life.
Kind regards,
Renata
Not 3.9 billion, more like 10,000 maybe? Realistically, not everyone has the opportunity to try all sports much less do them at a competitive level. And many who could have no desire to. So the whole premise of “being the best in the world” is a bit flawed to begin with…for all we know, the person in the world who would be the best at women’s figure skating right now if she knew her potential and had the opportunity and inclination is working a farm in Kenya, focused on her education 🙂
Hi to all,
1. I believe “winning at all costs” is quite common practice in sports. No pain no gain as they say. Being the 1st among the others, best of the best, motivates the best sportsmen. Look at Cristiano Ronaldo, he never doesn’t want to be 2nd, 3rd.. Just remember on Michael Jordan, what he would reply to the idea on stop struggling prior to the final whistle. So it is very subjective whether winning at all costs is good or not. It depends on the athlete and his motivation.
2. “Winning at all costs” is quite popular concept. I believe you may find a lot of sports movies (and not only on sports) which are around that topic. E.g. “Bloodsport” with van Damme. Such movies and instagram&media-motivating-memes make it common to think like that.
3. They are girls, even children. But they are brave and mature enough due to passing through the series of various contests. Worldcup, Russian cup, Grand-prix, etc. Their mentality has been evolving step by step with every new competition. Olympics is like a “final boss” in computer game, and as you may conclude from their performance on the ice, mentally they were ready for it. (Though Kamila made some mistakes). People who are not ready to compete at such age… I’m not sure whether they will be ready few years later (though I am not an expert; just experience from watching soccer in Europe).
4. What happens after performance on the ice and their reaction on that is more about dreams VS. reality. It is about crashing hopes. You never see grown-up sportsmen crying due to lose? Just recently Novak Djokovic was crying in his match against Medvedev in US Open final, when he lost the chance to collect all 4 Grand Slams in a season. So what strange in tires of young lady who dreamed on the gold and had trainings every given day through years?
What I would agree is that “winning at all costs” is not for all. But those who believes in that should not be judged cause it is a personal and free decision. You neven make anyone to think like that if he doesn;t want.
Regards,
Alexander
i would agree with Alex, and i would be in favor of not allowing children to participate in “adults” Olympics games. I ask myself: who should be blamed for failed drug test? – a child who took drugs or the trainer or parents?
In the individual case, who knows. My comment is more around a culture or system of achievement that goes too far.
Get off your high horse – look no further than your own country lol
I include my own country in this. Less obvious in Women’s figure skating for the United States, more obvious in the summer olympics such as Women’s Gymnastics.
Dear Victor, these are not women.
They are children, both mentally and physically. They are being given hormonal blockers to prevent puberty, so as to accomplish higher-quality jumps, as deemed by the industry. They are being driven by a despotic coach that can produce gold medals. The winners get an apartment and a higher-end car (BMW at some point previously), so with an apartment to live in and the car sold, the child can safely expect to afford college and have their base needs taken care of for a period of some years, and a base for a family.
Most of the girls come from a background with parents that cannot afford paying for their child’s education and living space for a future family. The parents see them winning as a good chance to secure a future for them. This is an exploitative system, it is not much better for athletes in many other countries (much worse in China for athletes, check whistleblower reports).
What we as mature individuals with ethics can do is turn off the tube. The Olympics do not deserve our attention, except as a cautionary tale, but they are especially toxic when children’s lives are at stake.
Sources for my statements can easily be found online, just search for “tuberidze puberty blockers” as a start.