Skip to main content

Golden heroes

I agree with the views in this article 'When Being Content Is Not Good'. I don't know of any other country whose athletes take the semi-final as the final and the final as dunno what.

I'm glad Nadal is mentioned in the article because taking the semi-final as the final (and the final as dunno what) is quite, quite different from playing each point like it is match point.

As we arm-chair critics-cum-sports-fans know, you need a gold medal mentality to get a gold medal.

Let me quote the man who was once my hero, Seb Coe, now Lord Sebastian Coe, chairman of London's organising committee, speaking about the Beijing opening:
"Actually our guys weren't cowed at all... They looked at that and thought that's really good, but we can do something as good, set in a different context. They were more pumped up because it was so good. I think they were quite excited by the challenge."

Never admit defeat before you even play your first stroke, run your first step, set off your first fireworks, etc. That's how to win the gold medal.

Not just once. (Picture from here)

But twice. (Picture from here)

And he remains the only man to win the 1500m twice.

For old times' sake, you can watch Coe's 1984 race here.

And it is also about believing in what can happen, about which Phelps' story will no doubt inspire many ...

So, being content is just not good enough...
Labels:

Comments

Miss Loi said…
I have to agree. No amount of official accolades can mask the dunno whats for those who've witnessed it :)
1:30 am
Anonymous said…
Hi Miss Loi,
Yes, how disappointing. I guess we just have to hope for more 'think big' and 'dream big' types.
9:58 pm
Lam Chun See said…
I recall that Britain had 2 great middle distance runners at that time. You can remember the other guy besides Sebastian Coe? Britain also famous for Daley Thompson in the decathlon.
8:52 pm
Anonymous said…
There was Steve Ovett and Steve Cram. But I can't remember who ran with/against him when. I think Ovett beat him in the 800m?
10:25 pm
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A lesson in love

I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world. -Mother Teresa Most of the time my eyes just glaze over when I see article upon article of football news. One caught my glazing eye over the weekend, though - 'De la Cruz - Mother Theresa in boots' , because of the familiar name. Mother Teresa, that is. It was the first time I’d ever heard of this de la Cruz guy, an EPL player who hails from Ecuador (GNI per capita US$2,630; as a comparison, Singapore’s is US$27, 490 – source: BBC country profiles ). His is a great story to illustrate that famous Chinese saying about not forgetting your roots. According to the article, ‘Each month a proportion of that salary (about S$150,000) Reading pay him - be it 10 per cent in January or 20 per cent in February - goes direct to the village’ (where he grew up). (Picture and profile from here ) Here's what he has been credited for: 1. 'The 2002 World Cup,' de la Cruz reflects, 'finan...
4 comments
Read more

True train school

‘Having eyes, but not seeing beauty; having ears, but not hearing music; having minds, but not perceiving truth; having hearts that are never moved and therefore never set on fire. These are the things to fear, said the headmaster.’ How would you like to have such a headmaster? I finally re-read (read it first as a teenager) Totto-chan, The Little Girl at the Window , a ‘school story’ by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, translated by Dorothy Britton. Totto-chan is the name Tesuko Kuroyanagi called herself, and the book is about her life during her school days at Tomoe Gakuen. Totto-chan was expelled from her first elementary school because of her ‘disruptive’ behaviour, which included constantly opening and closing her desk top (because she was so thrilled by it), ‘vandalising’ her desk (because there wasn’t enough space on the piece of paper to draw) and standing by the classroom window waiting for street musicians to pass by or talking to swallows. Her mother, although probably alarmed about the ...
3 comments
Read more

When the best man doesn't win

Speaking of 'sway' spurned lovers, the latest one I've come across is in Love Revolution ( only 12 episodes!), a J show I recently watched. Heroine of the story is pretty, 30-ish Smart Doctor, who is dying to fall in love and get married. She meets Aspiring Actor and Broadcast Journalist (right). She falls for Broadcast Journalist like a ton of bricks. It's obvious from the start (to the audience but not to her) that Aspiring Actor is nuts about her. But... she has fallen for Broadcast Journalist like a ton of bricks already. No doubt, Smart Doctor and Broadcast Journalist must be given credit for their love that stands the tests of time, separation and misunderstanding, but the one who loves most in the show is undoubtedly Mr Aspiring Actor. What he does/does not do because of his undying love for Smart Doctor: Y does not pursue her at first because he is still struggling to survive in this small-time drama group and he knows he doesn't have much to offer Y resp...
Post a Comment
Read more