Think about the last time you screwed up at your profession. Made a mistake in the office that you regret. For 99% of us, we get to tell ourselves, “tomorrow is a new day.” For the other 1%, tomorrow is in another 4 years. Welcome to the unique world of Olympic athletes. Revenge, redemption, and 2nd chances can often seem like a lifetime away.
For Americans like track star Allyson Felix, who went home with the silver medal 4 years ago in Beijing, it had to have been a painstaking long time for her moment at redemption. It all came down to 21 seconds. Waiting 4 years to re-run a 21 second race to make things right. I can’t even fathom that concept. It almost sounds like a prison inmate that appears in front of a parole board. You get one moment to shine and if you screw it up, it’s “come back in another 4 years and let’s see how you do then….”
How about Felix Sanchez, the Dominican Republic athlete who won gold in the 400M hurdles? Four years ago in Beijing he not only failed to earn a gold medal, but his grandmother passed away during those games. Sanchez waited 4 years to make her proud and at 35 years old he delivered the gold and broke down in tears after the race and on the medal stand. His tears of joy and sadness were no doubt triggered by a reflection of his journey. A journey to London that Sanchez no doubt started the minute he came up short in Beijing 4 years ago.
Imagine if after LeBron James and the Miami Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, NBA commissioner David Stern declared, “The next NBA Finals won’t be until 2015. See you then everybody!” Olympic athletes don’t get their NBA Finals or Super Bowl but every four years. However, when they do come around, failure can happen fast. The Olympic Games aren’t an 8 month long event. For many of these athletes, it can be over after one race, one routine on the beam, five dives.
First timers like American gymnast John Orozco, who failed to medal in any event, now must get back in line to play the waiting game, counting the days until the next Olympic Games in 2016. There must be some level of guilt many of these young athletes experience when they don’t come home with a medal. Not guilt for letting down their country, but rather a sense of sorrow for the sacrifices their parents made to allow them to pursue their dreams. Orozco’s father worked for the NYC Department of Sanitation for 24 years until he was forced to retire after suffering a stroke. His mother, a homemaker, drove him to and from practices 30 miles away every day, all so John could pursue his dream of one day winning an Olympic medal. Orozco’s ultimate goal is to become a champion and use his success to improve his family’s quality of life. Now he must wait another 4 years.
Yet you get the sense athletes like John Orozco are wired differently. Most Olympic athletes are. After all, they chose practice and training over ‘being a kid’. The majority of their childhood is spent with coaches in gymnasiums, on a track or in a swimming pool. There is a unique drive that burns inside each of them. It’s a drive that knows how to turn failure into motivation. That motivation requires a lot of patience because for them, tomorrow is four years away.
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