By Simon Gonzalez
The binge watching is over.
From August 5-21, many spent hours glued to the television, watching the Rio Summer Olympics. More than 11,000 athletes from 205 nations and two independent teams competed for 306 sets of medals in 28 sports.
It’s good to get the every-four-year fix of team handball and water polo, track cycling and table tennis. And a geography lesson. Who knew there was a country called Tuvalu?
Kidding. It is fun to see relatively obscure sports that rarely get airtime and to watch the tiny countries get their brief moment in the sun during the parade of nations. But that’s not why we watch the Olympics.
We tune in to watch the swimming, and gymnastics, and track and field; to see stars like Michael Phelps, Simone Biles and Usain Bolt.
But my favorite memory from the 2016 Olympics isn’t of Phelps or Biles or Bolt, as brilliant as they were. Instead, it was one of those blink-and-you-miss-it moments that took up maybe one minute of NBC’s hours of coverage.
It happened during the women’s high jump. American Chaunté Lowe had one final jump. If she cleared the height, she’d win gold. If she failed, she’d finish out of the medals.
She didn’t make it. But she didn’t feel sorry for herself. After a brief moment of disappointment, she smiled and waved to the crowd. She then gave winner Ruth Beitia, of Spain, a huge hug, offering genuine congratulations.
So many Olympic athletes are so self-focused, beating their chests or wagging the No. 1 finger when they win, lamenting when they don’t. Here was someone who handled the agony of defeat with grace and class.
Lowe offered a lesson to all of us. Not gold-medal winning athletes, we can strive to do our best, be content with our best, and be happy for those whose best is a little better.
There were similar lessons to be learned throughout the Olympics, for those with eyes to see. Sure, winning is important. That’s why they give out gold medals. But these games proved the folly of the quote “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”
American divers David Boudia and Steele Johnson provided great perspective after taking silver medals in the synchronized diving competition. They were asked how they handled the pressure of the last dive, knowing they needed to be almost perfect to clinch a medal.
“When my mind is on this [diving], and I’m thinking I’m defined by this, then my mind goes crazy,” Boudia said. “But we both know that our identity is in Christ, and we’re thankful for this opportunity to be able to dive in front of Brazil and in front of the United States. It’s been an absolutely thrilling moment for us.”
Johnson’s answer was much the same.
“The way David just described it was flawless — the fact that I was going into this event knowing that my identity is rooted in Christ and not what the result of this competition is just gave me peace … and it let me enjoy the contest,” Johnson said. “If something didn’t go great, I could still find joy because I’m at the Olympics competing with the best person, the best mentor — just one of the best people to be around. God’s given us a cool opportunity, and I’m glad I could come away with an Olympic silver medal in my first-ever event.”
Lesson learned: Our worth is not in achievement or accomplishments, but who we are as people.
During a preliminary heat of the 5,000-meter race, New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin tripped and fell, taking American Abbey D’Agostino down with her. D’Agostino quickly got up, but rather than taking off down the track, she helped Hamblin to her feet and encouraged her to finish the race.
After taking a few steps D’Agostino realized she was seriously injured. She had torn her anterior cruciate ligament. Hamblin put her arm around her competitor, and they completed the race together.
Lesson learned: Persevere to the end, and encourage those you meet along the way.
There were also lessons from the winners, from the humility of swimmer Katie Ledecky to the U.S. women’s relay teams acknowledging the source of their talent by huddling up for a prayer of thanksgiving after winning gold.
So thank you, Rio athletes. Not for your medals and your records, but for the examples you provided.
