The Heart of a Champion

ABC’s Wide World of Sports had a slogan to describe its presentations — the agony of defeat and the thrill of victory. If you’re in sports, or watch sports long enough, you’ll undoubtedly experience both. And the first week of competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang have given us examples of both.

The thrill of victory came in the first five nights of Prime Time competition. Americans claimed Gold the first four nights in snowboarding, and on Wednesday night when Mikaela Shiffrin finally made her debut, she claimed America’s fifth Gold Medal, this time in Giant Slalom. 

The team from the United States hasn’t won a gold medal since, and they’ve claimed just one medal (Saturday in Speed Skating) since Shiffrin’s golden run. And it was Thursday night that gave us our first taste of the agony of defeat.

And while American athletes didn’t win on Thursday, as we’ve seen in the days since, they are not defeated. And, in fact, there was beauty and triumph in what followed.

Disappointment in the Slalom

American Mikaela Shiffrin fell short of the podium in the Slalom, finishing fourth.

Shiffrin is one of the most high-profile and exciting athletes in these games. After days of wind delays that kept her from beginning her Olympic quest, Shiffrin finally got to ski in the Giant Slalom on Wednesday night, claiming Gold. It seemed like the beginning of a golden run for the 22-year-old who gained fame at the Sochi Olympics four years earlier by suggesting her goal was to win five Gold Medals at the PyeongChang games.

That dream seemed to fade from view as the rescheduling led Shiffrin to withdraw from the Super G event, held Friday night, but on Thursday she was heavily favored to win in the Slalom, her specialty. After getting sick before her first run, Shiffrin found herself back of the leaders in the Slalom and forced to fight her way back.

But it wasn’t to be. Shiffrin gave it her all only to finish fourth in the Slalom, off the podium. It was a surprise and a setback for one of the most heavily anticipated and favored athletes on the America team. To say the least, it was a surprise.

Fall on the Ice

American Nathan Chen, a favorite in the Men’s Figure Skating competition, stumbled in the Short Program.

The same night Shiffrin fell short American Nathan Chen struggled on the ice. The top American in the field, he was expected to challenge for the top of the medals podium. Instead, in his short program on Thursday night, Chen struggled. He fell, he stumbled and he ended up with an 82.27, landing him in 17th place.

It was a shocking moment that left Chen — and most of the audience — speechless. And left Chen with precious little time to gather this thoughts before the long program on Friday night.

As I watched the struggles Thursday night, I couldn’t help but think of one of my favorite TV shows, Friday Night Lights. In what is about the most perfect pilot I’ve seen, the Dillon Panthers come into the season heavily favored thanks to their quarterback, Jason Street (Scott Porter). Near the end of their first game of the season, after throwing an interception, Street was injured. He left the game on a backboard, and it was clear his football playing days were over. It was also clear that the heavily favored Panthers were about to head down a very different road.

We all could use a Coach Taylor in our lives.

Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) sums up the challenges ahead in a beautiful speech to end the episode. He says, “Give all of us gathered here tonight the strength to remember that life is so very fragile. We are all vulnerable, and we will all, at some point in our lives… fall. We will all fall. We must carry this in our hearts… that what we have is special. That it can be taken from us, and when it is taken from us, we will be tested. We will be tested to our very souls. We will now all be tested. It is these times, it is this pain, that allows us to look inside ourselves.”

Those that have seen the series know that things aren’t easy for the Panthers, but they dig down deep and find the heart of a champion, which pushes them to achieve, together, what they didn’t think was possible the night their quarterback and leader was injured.

Triumph in PyeongChang

Nathan Chen was phenomenal on Friday night in his free program.

Chen didn’t have long to wallow on his performance in the short program. The following day (Friday night in the United States), Chen took the ice one final time in the free program. And he was nothing short of amazing, landing four quad jumps — something that hasn’t been done — on his way to a personal best of 215.08 in the free program. It was the best skate of the night, and enough to help Chen to a fifth place finish.

Though he didn’t earn a medal, Chen’s performance was incredible, and showcased his talent. The future is bright for Chen, too. As Scott Hamilton noted in the pre-show commentary, both himself and Brian Boitano finished fifth in their first Olympics. They later improved on those marks, and you get the feeling Chen will do that, too.

The Olympics are a special and brutal time. Athletes work all their lives for a single shot at glory every four years. And with more than 3,000 athletes competing in these winter games, most won’t experience the thrill of victory, or at least won’t end up on a podium. But that doesn’t mean their experience will be incomplete.

Shiffrin didn’t compete in the Super G, but her presence was felt. She loaned a pair of skis to Ester Ledecka, a champion Czech snowboarder who is new to skiing and wasn’t expected to compete for medals. Ledecka, instead, raced down the hill to Gold on Shiffrin’s skis.

And while that’s a beautiful story — and one that shows the heart of what Olympic competition is really about — it was what Shiffrin tweeted about competition that stands out most. She said, “It’s not necessarily the medalists who get the most out of the Olympics. It’s those who are willing to strip down to nothing and bear their soul for their love of the game. That is so much greater than Gold, Silver, or Bronze. We all want a medal, but not everyone will get one. Some are going to leave here feeling like heroes, some will leave heartbroken, and some will have had moments when they felt both- because we care. That is real. That is life. It’s amazing and terrifying and wonderful and brutal and exciting and nerve racking and beautiful. And honestly, I’m just so grateful to be part of that.”

That is why we watch the Olympics, and why we watch all sports, really. We all want the thrill of victory, and we’re all leery of the agony of defeat. But, more than anything, we want to see something inspiring. We want to see the heart of a champion.

Chen gave us that in spades Friday night. And with more races left in this Olympics, Shiffrin no doubt will, too. Medalist or not, they’re laying their heart on the line as they take the hill, the ice or strap on a snowboard. And if you’re not watching these games, you’re missing something extraordinary.