An Olympic lesson in losing

The Oregon Women's Report - Women's News from Oregon

August 21, 2008

By Evergreen,

Not everyone wins in the Olympics. Some lose gracefully, others lose less gracefully. When the American gymnastic team lost several medals they complained of being treated unfairly during announcements. When Phelps began breaking records this summer the former swimmer great Mike Spitz complained. Spitz said he should have been in the audience and was upset that no one invited him. This week, Spitz went further by saying that he would equal Phelps if they were to be in a match-up during his best days. Someone needs to tell Spitz that this is not his spotlight.

A good role model for girls and future Olympians is swimmer Dara Torres who came home with the silver. Torres said “The silver lining is that there’s nothing that I could have changed. My coach said I swam the perfect race and I broke the American record. I did my best time by a couple tenths of a second, which is a lot in a 50, so I have to be happy with a silver medal.”. On the TV news she made sure to remind everyone that what is most important to her is her daughter waiting for her back home.