By Bill Quain
As I write this column, the Olympic closing ceremonies are taking place in Paris. That always makes me a bit sad, as I truly enjoy watching the competitions. In my last column, I noted that the TV coverage for week one seemed to be an endless stream of gymnastics. But the coverage in week two had more variety, which included watching a final where the competitors were given the choice between each taking a gold medal or battling it out to the finish.
There’ve been ties in the past.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy and Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar agreed to a tie in the men’s Olympic high jump. Both athletes had just made miraculous recoveries from what were thought to be career-ending injuries. In fact, Tamberi brought his leg cast with him to the Tokyo Games, and it was there on the sidelines while he competed.
That competition went on for two and a half hours. The official told the athletes that they were tied, and that they could continue with the jump-off. Barshim asked, “Can we have two golds?”
After a pause, the official said, “It’s possible.” The two athletes looked at each other and embraced, with Tamberi literally jumping into Barshim’s arms. You can watch the whole thing on YouTube – it’s amazing to see!
Another gold medal tie happened at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, where pole vaulters Katie Moon of the U.S. and Nina Kennedy of Australia agreed to share a gold medal. In this year’s Olympics, Nina Kennedy took the gold, while Katie Moon went home with the silver. Kennedy was quoted as saying, “I have genuinely thought about this night, every single day, since those Budapest world championships – that night in Budapest felt amazing, but the next thought was that now I have to win the Olympics.”
This year, it wasn’t a tie.
The men’s high jump was center stage once more in the 2024 Olympics. American Shelby McEwen and New Zealander Hamish Kerr faced the jump-off this time. The American apparently made it clear that he did not want to share the gold, and the jump-off continued. In the end, Kerr took the gold, while McEwen took the silver.
McEwen received some criticism for “not taking the tie” and going home with a guaranteed gold medal. But champions aren’t in it to share. They are just driven to win. Of course, an Olympic silver medal is nothing to hang your head down about! But for someone who has trained their whole life, with just one goal in mind, I suppose there really is no second place.
People love to win – no matter what!
Years ago, I was an operations analyst at a casino in Atlantic City. My sister was working for another casino at the time. She called me one Monday morning to share a story about two young men who walked up to a craps table at her casino that Saturday and proceeded to win a huge amount of money. The casino manager approached them and suggested that they allow the casino to comp them rooms, food and drink, and even a trip to the men’s clothing store, so they would “be more comfortable.” The casino also sent transportation to pick up some of their friends, and comps were extended to them as well. The next day, the gamblers lost it all – but they walked away with big grins, and a great story.
The first thing I said to my sister was, “How could they risk all that money?”
She replied, “That’s not the point. You see, people like that aren’t in it for the money. They just want to win.”
Now, I’m not comparing Olympic athletes to gamblers, but there is a lesson here. These athletes aren’t in it for second place. They want to be the one and only champion of their sport. They don’t live in a world of easy-going people like us. All day long, they’re surrounded by the very best in the world. Their only desire, their only dream, and the thing that motivates them to get out there every day and practice, is to not only be among the champions, but to be acknowledged by those other champions as No.1 in their field!
Are you a champion in anything?
How about you? Are you competitive? Is there something that you practice every day? Does anything drive you to be the absolute best you can be? How about being a parent or spouse?
We might not be on a world stage, but each of us should have aspirations to be the absolute best at something – not for glory or money, but just because we couldn’t stand to think that we were not the best at that one thing. We’ll never get a gold medal for it, but still… we can’t stand the thought that we might have left a little something on the field.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Shoot me an email to bill@quain.com. As I say every week, “I’ll see ya’ in the papers!”
Bill is a Professor in Stockton University’s Hospitality Management Program. He is the author of 27 books, and a highly-respected speaker. Even though he is almost totally blind, Bill is a long-distance runner and runs the Ocean City Half Marathon each year. He lives in Ocean City with his wife Jeanne, and his Guide Dog Trudy. Visit www.billquain.com or email him at bill@quain.com.
