Guest post by Courtney Schnee
As with many in the world, I have been tuning in to the Winter Olympic Games every evening the past few days. It gives me so much pride to see America doing so well. World Class athletes throwing their hands in the air in victory gives me such a rush of adrenaline, even as I sit on the couch and watch. There is nothing like competition at the highest level and the highest caliber of athletes. I sometimes want to put myself in the athlete’s shoes to actually feel how they are feeling at that moment when they win gold. Of everything that has happened so far, the tragic death, the crashes and injuries, the underdog winning, etc. Nothing has struck me more than the words and attitudes of two Men’s Figure Skaters, Evan Lysacek of the U.S. and Evgeni Plushenko. Plushenko already had a gold medal and had given up skating for 3 years but came back because he was not satisfied.
The two competed for gold on day 7 of the 2010 Winter Olympics. I watched an interview of Plushenko, the Russian, where he said he had “enemies”. And although I will never know if the media spun the interview to make him look like a villain, he certainly did. He acted as though he was going to war and the interview was supposed to intimidate all of his enemies.
Lysacek, of the U.S., ended up winning gold with a performance where he did not jump a “quad” and Plushenko did one in his performance. In follow-up interviews of both, it was obvious that Plushenko was upset and angry that his competitor won. His comments in interviews hinted at unfair judging. In later interviews with Lysaceck, he had nothing but respectful things to say about his opponent. He even admitted that Plushenko was a role model and he looked up to him as an athlete. Lysaceck said he was happy with his performance regardless of winning the gold, he would have loved having a silver medal. The difference in attitude between these two Olympians was very obvious.
The story illustrated to me two different views of competition. The attitude of Lysaceck was that of a “co-competitor”. One who challenges himself to the highest standards while not degrading or insulting his opponent – at least not in an interview. And the attitude of Plushenko was that of a “win-at-all-cost” competitor. One who views his competitors as a means to the end, rather than someone who is challenging him to be his best. I was sad for Plushenko because he clearly did not have a healthy view of his athletic goals, he was seeking something from winning that he will never get.
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