The Drama of Human Competition
Dr. Pfister and family visit Olympia, Greece (2016). Although the ancient games were held in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BC through 393 AD, it took 1503 years for the Olympics to make its way into the modern era.
As I review my life, I am not - and never have been - a competitive athlete, but I am a student of human behavior…
As an orthodontist, I deal with human drama on an hourly basis - reasons for not cooperating with rubber bands, losing retainers, parents getting divorced and their kids taking the emotional brunt of it all! In a new orthodontic exam, I have to analyze and determine (as a coach would) in a relatively short period of time, 10 minutes or so, if the person in front of me will complete the needed tasks before them to produce an outstanding finish - a great smile.
Thus, when the Olympic Games arrive every two years, alternating Summer and Winter, I find myself completely mesmerized by the total dedication and determination that these athletes exhibit as they push their bodies beyond any semblance of normal human limits.
These individuals train with the intensity known only to a few, as they dissect every dynamic aspect of the human body from sleep to nutrition to hydration to mental acuity… and then determine how all these aspects of their particular bodies can synergistically be used to push themselves beyond physical limits.
If we look at the Paralympic athletes, their training regimens and feats of human endurance are even more unbelievable, considering the physical and mental challenges that these incredible athletes must overcome to achieve their victories.
And for 17 days, the world - with all its human strife and conflicts - puts it all aside for the single goal of human competition and comradery. The global population witnesses the thrill of athletes pushing the physical envelope in their pursuit of gold!
Nothing inspires or drives us like the power of the human spirit.
That is why this year’s Olympics was the Olympics that wouldn’t die, according to Time Magazine.
Like the athletes, this year’s Summer Olympics faced trials and tribulations, having already been cancelled last year due to the Covid virus. Just days before opening, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) gave the host city, Tokyo, the green light. Chosen in 2013 to be the host city, Tokyo was far from an ideal site. In 2011, it suffered the second largest nuclear accident since Chernobyl. Time Magazine cites that the incident was the result of a devastating earthquake and tsunami in the same year. Then, as final preparations were being completed, Tokyo and the world were hit with the Pandemic, cancelling the Olympics for over a year. The games that were to boost Japan’s economy by 300 billion from international and domestic tourists, would go on, but with no tourists and no spectators! The parents, grandparents, and sponsors who formed the financial, physical, and emotional platform to support these athletes would be forced to watch on various media outlets with a 13-hour time difference.
The concern to go on with the games and bring 11,656 athletes and their coaches from 205 countries to compete in 339 events across 33 sports with the possibility of kick-starting another pandemic was on many IOC board members’ minds.
In overcoming all the obstacles and pandemic issues to put on such a truly memorable and safe Summer Olympics, Japan personified the statement, “Where there is a will, there is a way!”
The highlights of the Tokyo Olympics are too many to list but a few are definitely worth noting, as they provide a portal into the positivity of humanity that is all-too-frequently overlooked in today’s society.
Tokyo’s youngest Olympians this year included a 12-year-old Syrian table tennis prodigy, along with China’s and Canada’s 14-year-old female swimmers. Though they did not win medals, they were proof that you are never too young to chase your dreams.
This year’s 66-year-old Australian equestrian was representing her country in the Summer Olympics for the sixth time; and Uzbekistan’s 46-year-old female gymnast (in her eighth Olympic appearance) also exemplified the fact, you can never be too old.
Age is relative. Attitude is everything.
The U.S.’s Lilly King, gold medalist in the 2016 Olympics, was slated to run the table and win gold in all her swimming events. She lost her first event to her 16-year-old teammate Lydia Jacoby, who was participating in her first Olympics! When asked how she won, Lydia said, “I just felt happy from the day before and I enjoyed the swim!” An interesting aside, Lydia practiced swimming wherever she could. Alaska only has one Olympic competition pool in the entire state!
Long distance Kenyan runner Abel Mutai, only a few meters from the finish line, stopped in confusion before the signs marking finish, but was pushed over the finish line by Spanish runner Ivan Fernandez, who had trailed him the entire race. When asked, “Why did you do that, you could have taken the Gold,” Ivan’s response was, “My dream is that one day we can have some sort of community life where we push ourselves and others to win!”
Wow - if that doesn’t speak to you about what the Olympics is all about, nothing will.
And yes, the U.S. came away with the most medals at 113 and the most gold at 39, followed by China with 88 medals and 38 gold.
We also achieved our fourth straight Olympic men’s basketball title, winning the gold over France (who beat us in the preliminaries and almost knocked us out of competition).
But the most amazing never-saw-that-coming moment - the moment I think will go down in history as this Olympics’ defining moment - was when America’s Superstar, Simone Biles, withdrew from competition at the games to concentrate on her mental health.
This is absolutely groundbreaking for the future of all athletes; but truly this is a wakeup call for all of us.
I’ll end with a few of my thoughts on this topic…
I accidentally caught an interview with gold medalist Michael Phelps the day after Simone withdrew from the Olympics; and it proved to be quite interesting. Michael retired after the 2016 Olympics in Rio, running his lifetime medal count to 28 total with 23 gold. He is the most decorated Olympian from any sport and possibly the greatest Olympian of modern times. In the interview, Phelps said no one but an Olympian participant knows the tremendous pressure an athlete is under representing their country before the world. And the more famous an athlete becomes, the greater the expectation and the exponential increase in pressure to compete and “bring home the gold.”
Michael said before any of his last events, he felt he had the entire weight of the world on his shoulders. After the 2016 Olympics, Michael said he went home and crashed for a year, in order to get his head screwed on right. He went on to say that he understood the pressure that the decorated Simone was under and when she removed herself, he totally understood. After getting his life together, Michael started the Phelps Foundation for Mental Health, in order to call attention to the importance of humans’ mental health, which is so often overshadowed by the constant emphasis of the physical preparedness required for world-class athletes.
It was a very courageous move on Simone’s part to take a stand for her personal well-being, rather than be driven to produce.
I feel she will be remembered longer and probably did more good for humanity and fellow athletes by calling attention to mental health than she ever would have by winning more medals! The silent statement it makes, that “it is ok not to be ok”, is truly attention-getting when it comes from an individual portrayed as “having it all together.”
Simone’s actions this Summer may be the epiphany or catalyst that foundations like the Phelps Foundation need to move from awareness to action.
Lets’ take the mental health issue from sports to society in general…
Our drug addiction and opiate crisis involves many individuals lost in their own wheelhouse!
And many people - probably most - experience struggles with mental health at some point in their lives.
If the old adage mind over matter is true, maybe our current health delivery system has been focusing on the wrong part of the body in order to cure the individual.
They say the most difficult distance for an athlete to conquer is six inches… the distance between their ears!
It probably goes without saying, that’s a tough distance for most of us.
The Tokyo Olympics taught us many things about sportsmanship and friendly competition. But one of the most important things it taught us may have been, “It’s ok not to be ok.”
And sometimes the courage to admit that is worth more than its weight in gold.
- Dr. Pfister