Sunday Scribblings had the prompt "Distance".
I feel sad for the athletes who have spent years training but don't win.
Actually, I also feel sad for the ones that win; but for different reasons.
Distance
Olympic gold shined and beckoned,
“Certain winners” the media reckoned.
Even though the best’s produced,
Self-worth is now reduced
To mere fractions of a second.
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© 2012 J Cosmo Newbery
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So hard when the difference between winning and losing is the blink of an eye! I wouldn't want this kind of pressure for anything...
ReplyDeleteThe pressure these swimmers are under must be immense (speaking of those with profile of course). No wonder they can't sleep, can't handle their nerves, then under perform. Then to be defeated by such narrow margins after all the work and effort and toil must have them shattered. xx
ReplyDeleteand isn't it a bizarre situation when wonderful performances reduce the athletes to ears and self-dissatisfaction?
ReplyDeleteThey are ALL winners in my eyes, being there.
So well pointed out in your succinct lines.aprille.me
I feel sorry for them, too. It's so much pressure on those (practically) kids.
ReplyDeleteSelf-worth is now reduced
ReplyDeleteTo mere [hundredths] of a second.
I'm with the rest, I think: the distance between winner and loser is so small, it is really beyond human comprehension. Meaning few of us can understand a hundredth of a second, and the potential for human error in the accounting. Which, I think, is what turns the Olympics, for me, into a (bit of a) farce.
So true. Amazing to think that such microscopic differences in time make the difference between medals or not.
ReplyDelete