Curious Parents Class Resources

Winning Isn't Everything ... Go For It
Publisher's Note

I still think Lindsey Jacobellis is the best snowboarder in the world.  She didn’t win the Gold, but she’s the best based on talent and natural ability for the sport.  The youthful exuberance that sparked her to celebrate prematurely revealed the joy she gets from her sport.  In my mind, it wasn’t her board grab that caused her fall – anything could have done that – an ice patch, distraction or the mistake could have happened after she landed successfully.  The grab was her way of being in the moment and expressing her joy.  She behaved like a healthy twenty year old, thrilled to be ahead, in the spotlight.

A more conservative competitor with less talent but more discipline took the gold because of Lindsey’s mistake.  Will we remember her name twenty years from now? Unlikely.  We will remember Lindsey’s celebration, her passion and joy and what she’s done for the sport.  And no doubt, she will return in the 2010 Olympics, older, wiser and more disciplined from her experience in Torino. 

Psychologists say that Gold and Bronze medal winners are happier than winners of the Silver.  Gold obviously recognizes the best overall performance.  Winners of the Bronze are happy to get a medal at all.  Silver medallists are disappointed about not winning the gold. 

These feelings are natural for a serious competitor, but they’re incompatible with what we try to teach our kids about sports:  go out there, do your best, have fun and don’t worry about the score.  Let’s remember this when we’re tempted to criticize Lindsey Jacobellis or any of the athletes whose medal placements disappointed us in these Olympics. 

For some people, winning is everything and they want to see lots of medals period.  These people are happy with a conservative performance that maximizes scoring and wins the gold.  Me, I like to see passion, talent and testing of the limits – there’s more at stake and the sport progresses.  My heroes of this Winter Olympics were Miki Ando the Japanese figure skater who attempted the quad in her long program, Speedy Peterson who attempted his signature “Hurricane” jump and Lindsey Jacobellis who celebrated her joy with what I would call a joy maneuver at the end of her run.

I’ll be one parent who says to his kids “do your best, have fun and don’t worry about the score … and go for it!”

John Piccone is the publisher of Curious Parents