I am sad to say that I believe that the spirit of the competition has been lost.
I am sad to say that I believe the media bares the biggest responsibility for this.
I am sad to say that I believe a lot of parents are also bare responsibility for this.
Why is the public so obsessed with being number one? Why do we have to win the 'Gold' medal? What's wrong with Silver or Bronze? What's wrong with just being in the elite company of the "Olympians"
The Australian media (particularly the commentary from Channel 9) has been atrocious. The expectation placed on our athletes has been way over the top, no wonder they berate themselves for winning a silver medal. Yes, they win a silver medal, they don't lose a silver medal!
I must say that I have seen nothing but supportive parents interviewed at the Olympic games. They are proud of their offspring, and they have every right to be.
Where the parental issues arise is that it appears to me that kids are raised these days in a manner that sets them up for a fall. Kids do not know how to lose. They are pandered too, an pamper and give treats when they lose. Consequently they do not understand how to lose with grace and humility. They pout, and whinge and complain. They blame the umpires and referees, they blame their team-mates, they blame their coaches, but they don't take responsibility for themselves.
Don't take this a a blanket statement. As with everything there are always exceptions, but it appears to me that this downward spiral of attitudes from the media and subsequently the competitors is getting worse not better.
So what if we are second best this week in London; so what if you only get to take home a silver medal, does that make Australia any less of a nation. At the last world championships we had lots of winners, does that make the second place getters losers? I don't think so.
Australians need to pull their head out of their arses, and realise that we are not losers by any stretch of the imagination. We are a strong, resilient and prosperous country, and we need to remember that. We are the LUCKY country. We are a small nation that loves our sport. We are a small nation that has always punched above its weight when it comes to sporting competition. When you consider the United States has population of 311 million + ; Great Britain has a population 62 million +; China has 1.3 Billion+; and little ol' Oz has 22 million +;
it is an absolute miracle at all that we have been so successful in the past.
It is time to go back to the basics and be thankful for what we have. Be thankful that we have come through our short history relatively unscathed. We have wide open spaces, fertile soil, a strong economy, a culturally diverse population, plenty of food and water, a spectacular array of resources. We need to remember who we are and where we came from.
The native population survived in this country for thousands of years, untouched and undisturbed; the rest of us are immigrants, and the earliest of those immigrants were mainly the lowest of the low from England, Ireland and beyond. Convicts made up of petty theives, prostitutes, murderers and various other criminals.
Since that time others have come, people with nothing looking for a better life. People with something, looking for more. And still they come in 2012, the poor, the downtrodden, the persecuted, all looking for something better, and what is their first choice - Australia, the lucky country.
We live in the best country in the world, with access to the best of everything else. Lets not destroy that with the incessant negativity that is creeping into our psyche. Stop cutting down the tall poppies, celebrate them, encourage them, love them, embrace them. And as for the up and coming performers, the next generation, some will be at the top of their chosen fields and some will not, but they are not losers, they are winners, by living their lives in the manner that they want to. By giving of themselves to their chosen career, they are doing what they want, win, lose or draw.
Come on Aussies, celebrate who we are and where we have come from and what the future has to offer.
Live long and prosper.
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