Someone else’s dream ruined my chance of being in the Olympics!

As a child, I had a fascination with the Olympics. I’m not sure exactly what the fascination was, I wasn’t much of an athlete. I really just stuck to kickball with the neighbors and swimming in the family pool. But I was fascinated.

As I rethink my athletic skills, I was a strong swimmer and an above average diver. I was even brave enough one summer to do flips off the diving board and into the pool. But none of that was ever going to get me into the Olympics.

But then there is the story of Eddie the Eagle, a guy who wasn’t much of an athlete but made it to the Olympics. His effort kind of ruined any average attempt I was going to have at going to the Olympics.

Athletes Dreams

There’s something magical about athletes from around the world coming to together to compete on the world’s stage. Like most people, I don’t watch many of these sports on a regular basis, I don’t know the names of some of the top athletes in even the more popular sports. But for two weeks the world rallies behind them.

Together we learn the stories of athletes, we see them on TV at their best, after years of grueling hard work, with sponsorship from some of the biggest companies in the world. The real story is the grueling hard work, the years without sponsorship, the things they gave up to have this moment on the world’s stage, a moment that may not lead to anything more than a personal best if it’s their best day.

But these athletes had a dream and are living it, and that inspires me to live my own.

Eddie the Eagle

Some time ago, I watched the movie Eddie the Eagle. I remember the 1988 Calgary Olympics and I remember Eddie the Eagle. It’s a faded memory since I was only 11 at the time, but I remember watching and rooting for this goofy man who didn’t have a chance to win a medal, but who did it for the pleasure of doing it, for the experience of being an Olympian.

“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”

– Pierre de Coubertin (1894)

Some questioned what Eddie Edwards was doing in the Olympics with no chance of winning and to the point where some thought he was an embarrassment to sport and the Olympics themselves. To an extent they are right.

What Eddie Did

On the surface, Eddie was a bit of a joke and an embarrassment for some.

But what he did was inspiring. If we quit every time someone told us it was impossible, we would never have a chance to grow or find creative ways to meet our goals. That’s what Eddie did. He learned what he needed to do and did it.

Yes, there was pain along the way, lots of it. But he overcame it all, he was an Olympic Athlete.

Consequences

The downside of Eddie the Eagle is that he made it significantly harder for someone else to do that in the future. Now there are all sorts of rules imposing minimum standards so that even the athlete who comes in last has a minimum standard of skill. Could there ever be another Eddie the Eagle?

During the 2018 Winter Olympics, the US Curling Team wins gold. In an interview, one of the teammates said in a roundabout way that he chose Curling because it wasn’t as athletic and he could excel to the highest levels of it. I don’t think that for a minute that Curling isn’t a real sport, but it’s a sport that weighs heavily on strategy instead of athletic ability, which is the case for most Olympic sports. I’m not saying you don’t need both for all sports, but the weight of each is different for each sport.

How to be the next Eddie the Eagle

Here are the lessons that I learned when considering both stories. There is always going to be a minimum standard, some minimums are harder than others. Anyone can make one of these minimum standards. But they need to know their strengths and weaknesses. If you have bad aim, avoid Curling and shooting. Then you need to commit 100% to doing it. Whether you talk about Eddie or the team that won Curling gold, they had something in common, they put in 100% effort, they didn’t listen to the people who told them they coulnd’t do it.

They were outliers, be an outlier!