“The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”

–Host Jim McKay on the TV show, The Wide World of Sports

First, a disclaimer. Nothing, especially sports, seems very important relative to what’s happening now in Ukraine, a country that neither sought war or did anything to deserve it.

We all know it’s a complex issue, but when a sovereign nation is invaded and plundered by a terrorist maniac, disguised as the leader of a country, what does it take for the free world to do everything possible to end the genocide?

Two quotes come to mind:

• “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” (source unknown)

• “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” (Winston Churchill)

The Ukrainians’ nationalistic resolve and President Zelensky’s courage and leadership are cause for optimism.

Okay, on to a much lighter topic: the Olympics. First, a follow-up to a previous blog about two athletes and their personal good news.

Brittany Bowe won the 500 meter women’s speed skating gold. It only took 37 seconds, and if you haven’t seen the race, it’s worth watching on You Tube–especially her reaction when she won. If you don’t get a little teary-eyed, check your pulse.

Eileen Gu, the American skier who chose to ski for China, won three gold medals. An amazing feat, no doubt. I’m happy for her athletic success but, as predicted, she’s become the poster child for Chinese athletics. Her official citizenship is still up for grabs.

What price success?

Now for the sad news. First, Kamila Valleva. She’s a fifteen-year-old Russian child and an accomplished figure skater. She also happens to be under investigation in a doping scandal.

When tested a few months before the Games, she was found to have the drug trimetazidine in her blood. I doubt she can even spell the drug’s name–in Russian or in English–much less make the decision to use it.

And at age fifteen, she didn’t just go to the local rink to practice each day after school. No telling how long ago she left her family and entered special training for elite athletes. Enormous pressure.

The result: she fell several times in the free skate competition, falling out of contention (no pun intended!). Her coach publicly berated her for giving up. Remember, she’s only fifteen. A child.

Valleva’s teammate, Alexandra Trusova, took the silver medal and exited the ice in the midst of a self-pity party, declaring, “I hate this sport.” She then vowed to never skate again. Second place just wasn’t good enough.

Lest we think this kind of pressure only weighs on Russian athletes, Germany’s Katarina Witt failed to medal. Her response when interviewed on television: “I’m sorry; I really can’t bear it.” This from a two-time Olympic skating champion.

Finally, there’s the U.S.’s Mikaela Shiffrin, a world and Olympic champion alpine skier who missed gates in two different runs and was disqualified. Later, she said her performance “makes me second-guess the last fifteen years. Just processing a lot for sure, and I feel really bad.” That’s fifteen out of her twenty-six years of life.

What price success?

Here’s my point: I realize these are elite athletes who’ve put their hearts and souls into their sports–either willingly or through encouragement or, maybe, coercion. These are young people under tremendous pressure to win. They must believe they’re only as good as their next victory.

From where does this come? Don’t we now live in a world where young children who demonstrate exemplary athleticism are encouraged to devote themselves to their sport year-round? Travel teams. AAU teams. Select teams. School transfers to play a sport for the “right” high school.

In pediatric sports medicine, we now know that year-round dedication to only one sport often results in overuse injuries and/or emotional burnout.

Maybe it all starts when our T-ballers, pee wee football players, etc. all have to get a trophy, no matter their end-of-season place. Why even have places and winners/losers when young kids should just be learning and enjoying their sports? Why even keep score?

Those who are elite are pushed to work harder, to achieve more, and, sometimes, to win at all costs. This is not the real world.

Think about it. Our human experience is fraught with winning and losing. If you blow the curve with a high grade on a school exam, someone else’s grade drops. When you’re accepted to a college, it means someone else doesn’t get admitted to that school. When you get a job promotion, a co-worker is left behind. We all experience both winning and losing.

When young athletes in their formative years don’t experience failure, or they’re shielded from it, they don’t learn to handle the vicissitudes of life they’ll inevitably encounter–in their sport or, more importantly, in other areas of their lives.

Maybe we shouldn’t blame them for not knowing how to handle losing.

What price success? Where did we go astray? I’ll give you my optimistic answer in Part 2, to be posted on March 22. It might surprise you!