I think the majority of the Olympic sports are different than what we usually see on a day to day basis. And by that, I mean that in most of your team sports, you're competing head to head with just one other opponent. Therefore, you have some "control" over what they are able to do. In the Olympics, most of the time you don't. You may swim your absolute fastest, and still not win. Does that mean you didn't do your best? No. It just means there was someone else who was faster that day. So, therefore a silver or bronze medal is appreciated.

don't you mean 3rd?

 

:lol:

After watching the Lochte lose that lead I changed my mind.

 

Thanks to my butthead roommate, I already knew what was going to happen in the race. While watching the tape delay, I thought somehow everyone was able to pull an elaborate joke an the rest of the world via Twitter. Thought there was no way the USA really got 2nd in the race when Lochte dove in.

 

The commentary after from Phelphs and Lochte showed two very different attitudes.

 

And now vice versa, look at how ecstatic our women's sychronized diving team was for finishing 2nd. All about expectation.

I'd take it in a heartbeat, but I can see the logic in maybe being disappointed.

 

Toughest finishing spots - 4th, dead last, 2nd.

 

My good friend's wife is Becky Reuhl...4th place diver from the '96 Olympics. She swears up and down that she couldn't be happier with it.

Some one once told me that if you are satisfied with second it is because you have never finished in first.

 

That being said, I'd have that bad boy hanging around my neck and silver would be my new favorite color! Proud to play for my country and proud to be on that podium. I'm sure I'd choke up and cry too.

If you ain't first, you're last..........."phrase to be used only with the distinct approval of Ricky Bobby Inc...."

As many have said, it would depend upon what you were expected to do going into the competition. On a side note, I could see being thrilled with a silver medal but then having a nagging question asking if you had trained a little longer and harder, could you have beat the guy/gal who won gold. I guess if it were me, I could handle losing to someone who was simply more talented than me but losing because someone outworked me would be tough.

 

I helped campaign for someone who lost their election by a very close margin. While he knows he ran a good race, he did mentioned the night of the election that he will probably often wonder if there was something different he should have done that would have given him enought votes to win.

I don't think the Great Britain Men's gymnastic team considered the silver "losing to the Chinese"......

 

However, after the review and change of the last Japanese gymnast's pommel horse score, IMO, GBR did seem to feel that they "lost" the silver and there was disappointment in the bronze........

Two thoughts - first, as the initial post stated, I think expectation plays a role. If you're a clear favorite to take gold then it probably would be a disappointment. Especially, considering that if you were a favorite, it probably means you have beat your competition on more than one occasion in other competitions in the years leading up to the olympic games.

 

Second, the Olympics seem to have a different feel to me than other sporting events. And, by that I mean that it seems the athletes in the games seem to just enjoy being a part of the games. That doesn't mean they are just happy to be there, but it doesn't have that "winning is the only thing" feel that normal events we watch have. There seems to be more of an appreciation for the privelege of being an Olympian from both athletes and fans. Many train all their lives for one shot at the gold. The lucky ones might get to compete in two or three games. And, favorite or not, it all comes down to that one performance. In the normal sports we watch, its an annual thing, we judge careers and greatness by titles, so its win or bust. We don't appreciate teams like the Buffalo Bills who accomplished one of the most amazing feats in NFL history by appearing in 4 consecutive Super Bowls. Or the Atlanta Braves who won a mind-boggling 14 consecutive division titles in the National League. Both of these teams are often remembered in a negative light because of their lack of post-season success. The Braves a little less so since they did get a title, but their amazing feats are overshadowed by post-season failures.

 

Much of it falls back to expectation thought. Obviously, if I were a member of the USA Men's Basketball team, I would be more than disappointed with a silver. But, in most cases, I think people are elated to win a silver a medal. Or, do you "lose" a silver medal?:idunno::lol:

It depends on one's expectations...and to some extent, others expectations for you. The biggest disappointment is not making the olympic team, then not medaling, then not getting the gold. However, if one is Bolt, Phelps, Lochte, etc. they expect nothing less than gold.

 

Kind of like the final four...the teams really hurting are the ones that didn't make the tourney at all or those that made it but lost early against expectations.

I think you always shoot for number one. You challenge yourself everyday to get better. You go do your best and you can live with that. I've won it all before and I've been really close. There is no feeling like winning it all because you are #1 and that can never be taken. We were 3 points from 1st state championship ever+ final 4 in baseball growing up. Still to this day it bugs me we didn't win it but I am incredibly proud of what we accomplished and know we did our best. You can live with that. Teams that lose Super Bowl, World Series etc. I'd say feel the same way. It bugs them the didn't win it all but they realize what a huge thing they have accomplished.

To me as a coach that's why I try to preach to the kids enjoy the journey! We push everyday to be number one. To challenge ourselves everyday as players+coaches to get better by doing little things knowing that if we go as hard as we can we can live with the outcome. You have to enjoy the journey though because there is only 1 winner.