Vancouver 2010: Bronze is just fine

Okay, so, whoo-hoo, American athletes are well ahead of their international competitors in the medal count at the Vancouver Winter Games.

But there’s something nagging at me about a certain attitude some of the athletes seem to be exhibiting. They seem to be perfectly satisfied just being pretty good.

When I think of the US athletes of past games, I see people who gave it their all, who overcame the odds to pull off amazing upsets—like the 1980 men’s hockey team that snatched gold from what, up to that point, had been a dominating juggernaut Russian team (the gold medal round actually came later, but the Soviets were so heavily favored, the gold medal was theirs for the taking).

Yes, American fans can wave their flags proudly because of this year’s performance, but the impression I get is that many of them are highly trained and talented athletes who have become complacent and are content to walk away with a shiny bronze instead of being bold enough to snatch the gold.

Cases in point from recent events: Lindsey Vonn and Apolo Anton Ohno, both of whom earned bronzes for their performances.

When Vonn hit the bottom of the slope after her run, she threw her arms up in triumph as if she had in fact just earned her second gold of the games. The celebration was a bit premature because, after all, there were more skiers to come. Her lead did not hold up.

Afterwards, she confessed that she made a strategic error in not skiing more aggressively in the bottom portion of the slope. She skied aggressively early and then backed off near the end.

Strategic error?

No, Lindsey, that’s called leaving something on the slopes. Nobody wins gold medals by holding back, by letting up. It’s the athletes who dare to push themselves, who ignore the risks of being aggressive and just go for it who earn gold, who are remembered, who will one day be called The Best. People who make “strategic errors” settle for third place.

Sure, Vonn’s got a lot to be proud of after shaking off a leg injury that might have ruined the chances of other skiers. I give her full credit for her grit and toughness.

So I have to wonder why it is that someone who is willing to fight through the pain to grab gold in one event would play it conservatively in another. There are no medals for "could have" or "should have."

I think the media are largely to blame for the high hopes I have for some athletes, particularly Apolo Ohno. Before winning bronze in yesterday’s 1,000-meter short track event, Ohno acknowledged that the Koreans were superb athletes and that racing against them would be a challenge. Frankly, I’ve always been somewhat disappointed in Ohno. He always seems to come up just short of gold. He’s got a box full of medals, but seldom comes out on top.

And I really wanted to see him beat the Koreans, who, it seems, really despise him. This race, in my mind, was one of those defining moments where an athlete has an opportunity to rise up and defy expectations. I wanted Ohno to erase those disappointments that lingered in my mind.

Instead, he settled for bronze and then flashed seven fingers to say, “Hey! Look at me! I’ve got the most Winter Olympic medals of any US athlete!”

Frankly, I felt kind of offended by that move after watching him finish third in the race. Most athletes—the ones who really want to compete, who have the drive to win, to be the best—would have been downtrodden by that outcome. Yes, he had to fight to come back from last place to earn that medal—I give him credit for that.

But that’s still a disappointment in comparison to the high hopes and high expectations. Again, I fault the media for part of this. You watch these commercials where he’s shown skating so fast the ice starts to crumble around him—as if he’s superhuman, as if he’s the Flash or something.

It’s not so much the third place finish that bothered me—it was when he held up those hands to show his pride in having earned seven medals. Yes, that’s something to be proud of, but at the same time, it’s also a signal from another athlete who’s content to be just pretty good.

Bonnie Blair, whose medal count Ohno eclipsed was on hand to watch the event. Many will no doubt begin tagging Ohno with superlative monikers because of the 7-medal achievement.

But let me put this into perspective: Blair won only 6 medals to Ohno’s seven, but five of Blair’s are gold. That’s the difference between an athlete striving to be the best and one who’s satisfied just to be one of the best.

Ohno’s got a lot of skating left to do. At some point, I would like to see him—and all the other athletes for that matter—stop being content just to medal and start fighting to be the best. If you leave something out there on the slopes, on the ice, on the field, on the court, then you’re settling, plain and simple.