MORE THAN A MEDAL
I love the Olympics for so many reasons. I love the spirit of competition, even events that - to be honest - I'm usually not that into. I promise I didn’t have “get emotionally invested in the outcome of South Korea vs. Japan women’s badminton” on my to-do list for this week, and yet there I was yelling at my TV as the match came down to the wire. I also love the pride and patriotism that comes with competing for your country. With so much division and dissension here and around the world these days, it’s refreshing to see someone standing on the podium with tears in their eyes, singing along to the national anthem honoring their performance.
But the thing I love most about the Olympics is the way its participants and their stories personify what really makes a champion a champion. Of course, those wearing gold around their necks are easy to identify as champions. But I’d argue those who come up just short - or even way short - in their Olympic moment are in many ways no less worthy of that title. That’s because champions are defined by more than a medal. Olympians are proof that it’s the process - the journey, the pursuit - that really makes a champion a champion. T. Alan Armstrong said it best: “Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months, and years they spend preparing for it.” Each Olympic athlete validated their winning identity long before they ever crossed a finish line in Tokyo.
For some this Olympic journey has lasted four years; for others practically a lifetime. That kind of commitment is staggering. Consider, in many cases, the time spent preparing vs. the time spent performing. We’re talking about years of all-day, everyday commitment - early mornings and late nights, rain or shine, in sickness and in health - all for the opportunity to compete in a race that in some cases lasts only a few seconds. When you look at it that way, it seems clear that whatever it is these athletes either got or failed to get in that gold medal moment pales in comparison to who that commitment helped them become in the process. No matter their Olympic outcome, each of them earned the right to be called a champion.
Consider too the perseverance so many of these athletes have displayed on their journey. Each story validates for people like us that the most meaningful pursuits in life have a significant price to pay, and the champion has accepted that adversity is built into that price - it’s part of the deal. We have no idea what most of these Olympians have had to overcome, but whatever it is they either got or failed to get in that gold medal moment pales in comparison to who that toughness and resilience helped them become in the process. No matter their Olympic outcome, each of them earned the right to be called a champion.
Finally, consider the courage each of these champions have chosen. As each one of them stood at the foot of that mountain in front of them - as they embarked on their Olympic journey - a number of fear-inducing questions had to have accompanied it. "What if I don't have what it takes? What if it doesn't work out? And what if I find out all I'm about to go through isn't worth it in the end?" Those kind of "what if" questions paralyze most people. And yet each one of these athletes boldly set off up that mountain anyway. Whatever it is they either got or failed to get in that gold medal moment pales in comparison to who that courage helped them become in the process. No matter their Olympic outcome, each of them earned the right to be called a champion.
Obviously you and I will probably never join the Olympic team or experience all that comes with it, but that doesn’t mean we don’t each have our own mountains to climb. There are commitments for us to make, there is adversity for us to overcome, and there is courage for us to muster, too. There are also some important lessons we can take from those competing in Tokyo that apply to our own journey. Maybe the most important lesson is that our identity is tied to more than whatever medals we’re chasing. It’s the process - the journey, the pursuit - that makes us who we are. We become champions in the hours, weeks, months, and years we spend preparing for our gold medal moments. That should encourage each of us today to keep preparing well.