麻豆社

Good morning,

You鈥檙e upside down, mid-air, fifteen feet above the ground, trying to execute a move which, even for you - the best gymnast of all time - is incredibly hard, when suddenly you don鈥檛 know where you are or what you鈥檙e doing. It鈥檚 a momentary lapse, but in gymnastics momentary lapses can be dangerous, even fatal. Gymnasts call them 鈥楾he Twisties鈥�, a high velocity version of the yips, or a potentially lethal stage fright. American gymnast Simone Biles experienced one - mid-leap - this week, and afterwards withdrew from the Olympics on the grounds of needing to protect her mental as well as physical health.

Some immediately accused the athlete of being weak. Of letting her team mates down just because she鈥檇 made a bad jump. But it seems to me they鈥檇 forgotten there was a human being behind the gold medal winning sensation. It turned out she had been experiencing the jitters for weeks. The expectations and pressure on her was immense. And she was competing despite having experienced sexual abuse from her former team doctor. Given all this her decision to keep body and soul together鈥� in a sport where the two really do need to be in sync - seemed courageous. When she said there is more to life than gymnastics, it reminded me of Russell Crowe in Gladiator, yelling to the blood thirsty crowd: 鈥渁re you not entertained?鈥�

Of course, it is possible to win and keep it all together. Just as it is possible to lose and lose it. We can鈥檛 pretend everyone is a winner. But nor should we say people are losers for not winning. American football coach, Vince Lombardi, once said 鈥渟how me a good loser and I鈥檒l show you a loser鈥�. But if Lombardi wanted to meet a good loser, he need look no further than rowers Helen Glover and Polly Swann who just missed out on a medal. Interviewed afterwards Glover, who gave up rowing for three years to have two children, talked of crossing the line having given it all, and wanting to inspire her children to take chances without fear of failure.

These Olympics have been notable for showing us that behind every competitor there is a story. It鈥檚 usually a story that involves sacrifice, adversity and pain, for the athletes and their families. What seems different, thanks to the likes of Biles and Osaka and Glover speaking out, is that some athletes are not prepared to sacrifice a loss of self in the pursuit of their goals. Recognising that winning at all costs is itself a kind of losing. As it says in the gospel, 鈥榳hat shall it profit a man or woman if they gain the whole world, and lose their own soul?鈥�

May we all be courageous enough to keep taking leaps in this life, not forgetting who we are mid-air; and land having kept body and soul together.

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