Going For Gold

[msconduct]

Although I used to be a sports psychologist, I'm not usually a massive fan of watching sport. But even I was interested in the Olympics, because New Zealand did spectacularly well. We got our biggest total of gold medals at one Games ever (10), which placed us 11th, with all the countries ahead of us having much bigger populations than us. We even got more gold medals than Canada! Astonishing.

Our men did a great job, with golds in the high jump and the kayak cross and silvers in some of the rowing and the triathlon. But it was the women who really excelled. World champion cyclist Ellesse Andrews took two golds in a single day. Lydia Ko finally took the gold in golf after getting a bronze and then a silver in the previous two Games. Brooke Francis and Lucy Spoors grabbed a gold in the rowing. And the women's sevens rugby team cruised to their second gold.

But where we really made out medal-wise was in the women's kayaking, and a lot of that was due to GOAT kayaker Lisa Carrington. Lisa's career total medals is eight golds and one bronze, making her NZ's most successful athlete ever. Her first gold was at the 2012 Games, and in Paris, at the age of 35, she took an amazing three golds and made it look effortless. 

So congratulations to all our Olympic athletes, and not just for their medals. Win or lose, they all displayed grace and good sportsmanship, something that was far from universal at these Games. 

And before we wrap up the Games completely, I'm sparing a thought for the 90% of Olympic athletes who don't win a medal, and the even larger percentage who don't achieve their dream and win a gold. There's so much emphasis on winning in our culture that we have the ridiculous situation where an athlete who is one of the best in the world can lose out on a gold medal by a fraction of a second and still feel like a failure. The most touching moment of the Games for me was the interview on the BBC World Service where the BBC guy was interviewing a British athlete who'd missed out on the gold. The athlete was struggling to hold back his tears, and said "I feel like I've let everyone down". The interview dropped his professional mask and instantly responded to the humanity of the situation, saying "Take a deep breath, son. You haven't let anyone down. You haven't let anyone down". As a sports psychologist, I was always interested in the dark side of sports: what happens to athletes who don't win, or who are forced into retirement by age or injury when their sport is their whole life? It's really sad that so few are successful and even if they are their success doesn't last, yet we have no models for how to cope for this incredibly common situation.           



 

Comments

[echomyst]

Here in the U.S. there have been many news articles about Simone Biles competing on her own terms. Not only is she the GOAT in women's gymnastics, but she's set a healthy example for others as well. <3

[msconduct]

Yes, I saw a doco following her in the space between the two Olympics. It was brave of her to stand up for mental health in an atmosphere where it's considered taboo to admit any weakness - and a great vindication that she cam back from it too.

[bill_schubert]

I get burned out pretty quickly with the 'USA! USA!' stuff. And as a group we win way too many. But it is each individual that has worked so hard to get there that is enticing. Our women's rugby did pretty well, I thought, but holy shit, the NZ teams. Get the hell out of the way.

And Alcaraz in tears because he let down Spain. Geez. And it was the only time I've ever rooted against him. I really wanted Djokovic to win Gold. He's earned it.

I'm still going to go back and watch some of the cycling I didn't watch.

This was the most positive games I've seen in a long time. NBC did a great job for us here in the US. No idea how that worked elsewhere. Hopefully well.

[msconduct]

Yes, the USA chant is very obnoxious. Although we love it, probably some people feel that about the haka too.

Our secret with rugby is to specialise in a sport almost nobody else (maybe South Africa) plays as their premier sport. And our secret with rowing, kakaying and such is that we're a watery country. Finn Butcher, who took the gold in the first kayak cross (a very fun event to watch) said he grew up messing around with his brothers in rivers in plastic boats, which is pretty much what the kayak cross is.

The Olympics here was mostly on a pay channel, as it was for most places, I think. Even the BBC was only allowed to show two sports at once. To see any I had to resort to, as we refer to it here, my Canadian auntie sending me a videotape. That was mostly the NBC coverage and they did a good job.

[bill_schubert]

I don't hear it frequently but I love the haka. If I was playing a team that did that I'd just walk off the pitch. Very intimidating as it is supposed to be.

We had wall to wall. I think every event and all the versions of that event. NBC paid something like 8 billion dollars for 10 years of the games. They will make a lot of money on the deal especially in LA. But they did a good job so it is worth it for us.

[msconduct]

Short of physically interfering with it, opposing teams and the crowd are free to respond to the haka how they want, but history shows disrespecting it is not a good idea as All Black teams invariably then take the team who does it apart. I think the opposing teams who respond in their own way get the most out of it as it becomes a bonding ritual for them too. Like this one which was the Rugby World Cup final against the French held in Auckland in 2011:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjVqZkDZrgg

This match had the most extraordinary atmosphere, probably the most intense I've ever seen. The stands look dark because almost everyone was wearing black. The All Blacks despite a winning record of 77% since 1903 often do a poor job in the World Cup, but not when the final is held at home.

The impact of the haka is something that's hard to translate to non-New Zealanders. It's an expression of emotion, it's spiritual, it says this is who we are and where we're from. You really see this when it's performed outside of sporting settings - this haka is welcoming a bride to the groom's side of the family:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUbx-AcDgXo

In this kind of setting, and funerals even more so, the expression of emotion I think makes our Western traditions look kind of anaemic.

Shortly after my friend T who lives with me moved to NZ from the UK, we were watching rugby and I asked her if the hairs on the back of her neck had stood up when watching the haka. She said "...No?". A few years later, another match, another haka and she said "The hairs just stood up on the back of my neck":).

[siglinde999]

I really enjoyed the Olympics coverage. I’m always cheering for the underdogs (the Refugee Team, the folks from countries that have never won a medal of any kind, the javelin guy from Pakistan whose village got together to buy hi a new javelin after six years of using his old one, and he set a new world record). You would have liked the interview Canadian Mo Ahmed did after coming in fourth or fifth in the 10,000 metres after being a medal favourite: he was thrilled to have set a Canadian record and personal best in a very fast field.

[kaishin108]

How great you did so well. I missed the kayaking, I just might go back and look for it. That is a shout out to the athletes who did not win anything. All that work, wow.