Olympians are people, too. We think that they鈥檙e invincible, that they can touch Heaven over and over, and every time they walk into the arena they have hitherto owned. We touch success through them, and we are so overcome, overwhelmed, by the feeling that we forget they鈥檙e not automatons. That they鈥檙e at the top isn鈥檛 because they can create magic with the flick of a wrist. It鈥檚 because they have learned to turn talent into a weapon through long hours of work, days of perseverance, months of focus, years of rote. Nothing is given., and nothing is a given.
It鈥檚 ironic that we feel our sports heroes are one with us when they separate themselves from us. They test limits and give us glimpses of what we can achieve. It鈥檚 why we cheered when Hidilyn Diaz won gold, because, through her, we believed we won 鈥 and were 鈥 gold as well. In truth, it鈥檚 the opposite. Like us, she鈥檚 not perfect. Like us, she will have bad days. And, like us, those bad days make the singular ones all the more memorable.
Why, then, are we hard on our champions? We questioned why Naomi Osaka withdrew in the middle of the French Open and skipped Wimbledon altogether. We cringed when Simone Biles sought to take a break from competition. We shook our heads when Katie Ledecky showed her mortality. We saw their actions as quitting instead of coping, never mind that we ourselves know we need to first survive in order to thrive.
We each of us have our own Everests to climb, our own burdens to carry on our shoulders. We do so for a great many reasons, but mainly because our needs intertwine with our wants. In our exemplars, we find hope, and we feel let down when that hope is seemingly crushed by unforeseen outcomes. It shouldn鈥檛 be. After all, Olympians are people, too, and it鈥檚 precisely because they are also one of us 鈥 and also us 鈥 that we should celebrate them all the more.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since 大象传媒 introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
