Olympics 2008

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

I know it's technically not a tie. There was a 1 second difference. I am suggesting that difference is completely meaningless, though humans have ascribed the meaning of "winning" to it. It's absurd.

Yes, it's a race, and a win is a win even by a second. But it's why I simply don't care for races. How can it conceiveably matter to anything but the race itself whether one human is faster by one second at that particular moment of that particular day?


I admire the skill of the winners. I don't admire the skill of the so-called losers who came in second by one single second any less at all.

It's a competition, not an exhibition. What is to be admired is the ability of an individual to perform as well as they possibly can in a situation where one small mistake means they don't succeed.

And while such a small margin seems meaningless on the scale of an individual race, that gold medal race is not an isolated event. On top of all of the qualifying rounds are the years in between of world championships. And what you'll find is that the best in the world seem to more often than not end up on the plus side of those seemingly insignificant margins. So much so that it becomes clear that it's not a matter of luck, it's a matter of will. The best in the world will, when it matters most, find that extra step, have their timing down just that little bit better. And if they aren't able to do so in the most important race, they are not the best in the world.