One more day to go

We’re in the arena and ready to begin our final day of competition.  We won one medal last night (Elena – bronze) and find ourselves in the top 3 as a team.  Japan has already secured another team title.  A solid finish today can leave us satisfied, however, as a program our expectations are high and we’ll be a little unsettled no matter what.

Sports teach us a lot about life and reveal a lot about ourselves.  Judging athletes on their performances alone often dehumanizes the effort and process that takes place to get to where they are.   Many things take place behind the scenes and these athletes cannot afford to take anything for granted.  Everyone dreams of enjoying a well-deserved and earned medal, however, few are willing to endure the adversity required to get to this place.  As always, there were plenty of bumps in the road for each athlete and watching them handle setbacks and learn from each experience is the most valuable piece of my involvement on the team.  Ironically, there are athletes who do everything absolutely right leading into this opportunity, yet fall short of their goals while some exceed expectations despite letting a few things slide along the way.   Either way, evaluating the outcome in relation to the process is where learning takes place.

The outcome of the event was less than desirable for Helen and Alli and they both felt the sting of defeat deep in their hearts.  There was a pile of setbacks for each of them that could have been used as an “out” several times during training camps and the tournament.  They likely would have been legitimate, too.  Neither of them did, though.  They fought to stay positive and sometimes became emotional, but they never shifted their focus and controlled what they could control.  They didn’t give themselves an out.  Both competed hard.

While debriefing with Helen, she shared her insights and what she learned from the week.  She impresses me in a brand new way each tournament no matter if it’s good or bad.  Her perspective on wrestling and life makes it easy to cheer for her and her ability to adapt, grow and learn is an inspiration to me.