Mount Vernon High School

August 9, 2024 What's Beyond Winning? Like they do every four years, these Olympic Games have provided sports lovers like me with two straight weeks of competitive entertainment. I love seeing people rise to the occasion, maximize their talent, and perform at their peak with everything on the line. Those at the top of the medal stand inspire me - and maybe you, too, in some strange way - to want to achieve some big, important things of my own. Ironically, though, I think I’ve spent more time than ever before watching those Olympic athletes who’ve shown up to Paris, reached the pinnacle of their athletic journey, given everything they’ve got…and come up short. In the past two weeks, I’ve found myself enamored by individuals joyfully receiving a silver or bronze medal, despite losing out on their gold medal dream by only a split-second or a fraction of an inch. I’ve seen athletes offer sincere congratulations to a fellow competitor who literally stole from them the winning outcome they've spent years working for and dreaming about. I’ve seen athletes who knew they weren’t gonna win continue to fight and scrape and claw their way to the finish line, despite the reality that receiving a medal for their effort was no longer a possibility. I’ve found myself wrestling in those moments with whether I would be capable of such a response, and wondering what theirs says about the unique mindset and uncommon approach of these world-class athletes. Most people, after all, would be devastated by getting within a split-second or a fraction of an inch of their dream. Most people would spend their time and energy resenting the success of others instead of respecting it. Most people would justify that if they can’t win, then there’s no use trying. These Olympic athletes are undoubtedly driven by a deep desire to win, but their behavior in their moments of defeat indicates that they’re driven by something else, something that exists beyond winning, too. What is that, exactly, I've been wondering this week, and what can we cultivate beyond winning in our own experience? Here are three things to consider… 1) Process beyond winning. Nowhere in sports is a commitment to the process more dramatically disproportionate than at the Olympics. Think about it. These athletes train relentlessly, every day for years on end, all for the opportunity to compete in an event that in some cases lasts only a few seconds. That kind of commitment only comes from a deep respect and appreciation for the journey that even making it to that Olympic moment requires an athlete to embrace. No outcome can diminish the process it took to get there. 2) Pursuit beyond winning. Pat Summit was the winningest coach in college basketball history and widely regarded as one of the fiercest competitors in sports. She once famously said, “Winning is fun, sure. But winning isn’t the point. Wanting to win is the point.” For Pat Summit, and for these Olympians, too, I would guess, it was the relentless pursuit of victory that mattered most, as much as or maybe even more than the victory itself. This is the mindset of an elite competitor - someone who loves living life in the arena, who plays the game with courage, and who accepts that the pursuit of victory is worth the possibility of failure. 3) Pride beyond winning. Maybe most importantly, these Olympic athletes help to highlight the value of personal pride. There’s a standard of performance each of them possess that simply won’t allow them to accept anything less than their maximum effort, even when it’s obvious it won’t produce the outcome they’re after. Does that pride in performance make losing any easier in the moment? Of course not. But it does guarantee that they avoid the highest and heaviest price there is to pay - the regret that comes with admitting that you didn't give your best. It’s easy to convince ourselves that there’s nothing that exists beyond winning, that that's the only thing that matters. But the world-class athletes I’ve watched the last two weeks have me questioning that theory, and wrestling with the part the process, the pursuit, and the pride of personal performance play in my own journey. I’m hoping here today their example can challenge you to do the same. -Travis