There was a time when watching English multi-billionaire Richard Branson cock-a-snook at even bigger multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos by being first into space would have filled me with a sense of pride and delight. Plucky little Englander beats richest-in-the-world American has been the stuff of dreams since 1776 and certainly since growing up in an England where ‘who won the war’ was sometimes as much a rallying call against US claims as taunting the defeated of 1945. But, in the victory of the bearded over the bald, I can’t find any sense of achievement or excitement at being ‘first’ to launch a commercial, peopled flight to space.
I’ve gasped in awe at the Moon landings, marvelled at the miracle of Apollo 13 and delighted in the exploration of Mars as a multi-national feat of technical brilliance. Four or five minutes of weightlessness and who has the biggest windows is the stuff of schoolboy boasts and a total irrelevance to me and many others. Throwing multi-millions at it while the planet is burning, the poor are starving and pandemic variants lurks uneasily over daily life seems the ultimate waste of time in pursuit of bragging rights.
But it’s not the first time in recent months my perspective on winning and losing has been altered by living away from the UK. I was not plunged into dark bitterness by the England team’s loss in the final of the Euros and was pleasantly cheered by the success of a young USA team in the CONCACAF Gold Cup at the weekend. I’d wanted Mexico to win but in a battle between youth and experience the enterprise and optimism of the American team was overwhelmingly attractive.
At one point I thought that the Olympics would win me over to a more jingoistic frame of mind with memories of the Super Saturday of the 2012 London Olympics still burnished in my mind. Watching Mo, Greg and Jessica rip through the global opposition in just 44 minutes of athletic excellence was a thrilling experience. But for every winner there was someone doing their personal best or eating bitter disappointment as they find it is simply not their day.
Kipling’s advice in “If” was pretty much spot on – “If you can meet with Triumph and DisasterAnd treat those two impostors just the same”. Which is not to say that Mr Kipling cakes are not equally perspicacious in advocating for “…that Friday evening Viennese Whirl, that says: “Disengage brain, switch off the week and welcome to pyjama town”.” It is a different way of coping with a week of triumph and disaster but it has its merits.
Watching heptathlete Johnson-Thompson insist on hobbling over the line to complete the 200m in the heptathlon after damaging her achilles tendon was a reminder of the fine margins between glory and heartbreak. It was reminiscent of the moment at the 1992 Olympics that that Derek Redmond’s father, Jim, broke through officials and security to help his son limp over the line in the 400m. Difficult to remember all of the Gold medal winners from 30 years ago but that image of honour, love and courage in defeat is burnt into the memory.
But the real moment for me was seeing how the medal tables can represent the ways different media are handling their country’s situation. The New York Times has been called out for using total medal count which places the US on top despite China having the greater haul of Gold medals. Living in the land of revered American Football coach Vince Lombardi’s dictum – “show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser” – it seems counter intuitive to see second and third place given equal billing to the winner.
Perhaps, however, there is a sea change going on which recognizes that being first is only part of the purpose of human endeavour. The response to Simone Biles’ withdrawal from the gymnastics competition and the joy at her returning to claim Bronze on the beam may just signal a recognition that physical and mental health are the main tests of whether any of us win or lose. What was equally impressive was the solidarity of the other US competitors in emphasising that, in a sport where individual prowess is measured, the notion of team solidarity remains.
Slightly more muted in most corners of the US media has been the response to the relative failure of serial winners the US Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNST), to do better than Bronze in their Olympic efforts. It is difficult not to believe that this is partly because the team has become a political football (sic) with accusations of “Leftists maniacs” and “wokeism” resulting from the uncompromising statements of some players. What impresses me more (apart from their record of success) is summed up by retired USWNST’s Abby Wambach, a gold medal winner in 2004 and 2012, in her book Wolfpack where she says she loved, “..winning and losing as ONE team” and “..the magic of collectively surrendering to an unknown outcome.”
I’ve just finished reading a book called Running to the Edge which is mainly about the work of Bob Larsen who was hugely instrumental in rebuilding American distance running after years of decline. He summarises running coach and sports physiologist Joe Vigil speaking to Deena Kastor, later an Olympic Bronze medallist, at a point she was considering giving up the sport. It is an elegant metaphor for life and goes, “In this sport, success is all about the principles you live by… [it is] about building great relationships, setting goals for personal development, then trying to reach them, about bringing people into your life and venturing out on a journey with them.”
There is something symbolic about Branson, Bezos and, probably quite soon, Musk looking down on humanity from a bubble that their business success has bought them. They have earned their success and employed people and created wealth and have every right to spend their money as they wish. But the exclusive nature of space tourism* makes it difficult to feel that they are on the same team as most.
Notes
*Virgin Galactic plans to conduct just one more test flight before it will begin flying paying customers. More than 600 people have reserved tickets priced at $200,000 to $250,000 so far. The company is expected to reopen ticket sales soon, though at a higher price point. Prices for Blue Origin have not yet been published.
Image by Colleen ODell from Pixabay