http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070509/sp_wl_afp/swimfraitamanaudou_070509151617
Many French and Italians are vexed when a star French national swimmer Laure Manaudou, who holds 36 French records, six European records and three world records, announced she will move to Italy to be with her love, Italian swimmer Luca Marin.
Though she declared she'll still remain French national and swim for her country in the Beijing Olympics, many wondered how that would be possible.
The French Sports minister Jean-Francois Lamour said: 'It would be good if she realised that in the interests of sport she should stay in Canet.' (Manaudou's club in southern France).
Some French officials were reported to be worried that Manaudou would be urged by the Italians to become an Italian citizen.
The Italian leading swim coach, Alberto Castagnetti, was said to be reluctant to train her to compete against Italian's own swimming star, Federica Pellegrini. He said: 'Manaudou's love is very embarrassing for France and Italy. If Manaudou became Italian then it would be different.'
I never thought I'll live to see the day when a French or an Italian would actually call love / l'amour / amor as embarrasing ...
As a former competitive swimmer myself, I'm familiar with the feeling of competitiveness and rivalry ... but I always thought sportsmanship and the pursuit of greater heights as a goal for all sportsman which transcend personal ambitions.
Between getting the gold for myself and helping a fellow swimmer set a record better than I could have achieve myself, the choice was never in doubt. I would feel prouder for the new record than my own winning.
Am I the only person in the world to feel this way? I never knew for sure until I came across the manga/anime Hiraku no Go, ヒカルの碁, 《棋魂/棋靈王》.
In the series, when Hikaru's older friends from the Go-academy, Waya Yoshitaka (和谷義高) and Isumi Shinichiro (伊角慎一郎), realised Hikaru's inexperience was hindering him from passing the professional exam, they brought him to various Go-saloons to play against older players and gain more exposure.
Another fellow candidate, Ochi Kosuke (越智康介), was just the opposite, and told Isumi that helping a fellow competitor (only the top 3 candidates get to pass the pro-exams) to become stronger was foolish.
I never feel that way.
First, competition and rivalry is what helps motivate a person to aim further beyond his reach. They help set the bar higher. Some people prefer to become/remain big fish in a small pond, but that's not for me. I'm not into much competition nowadays, but I still believe in it.
Second, by helping others improve, we can actually help ourselves and venture beyond our own limits or potential. It takes us into a higher realm/plane (境界).
It is short-sighted of Alberto Castagnetti to feel afraid that training Laure Manaudou would disadvantage Federica Pellegrini. A true sportsman must not fear strong competition, but relishes the challenges that it brings.
Laure Manaudou could be the best training mate Federica Pellegrini could have, spurring the latter during normal training routines (if they train together).
Yes, inevitably, all human beings do have a limit to what we can achieve. It is possible that Federica Pellegrini's full potential is no match for Laure Manaudou's. But that is something that cannot be forseen or determined by human beings.
The only thing for certain is training with and against Laure Manaudou, Federica Pellegrini can only improve (unless she allows herself to be affected mentally).
It is all a matter of attitude, attitude, and attitude.
The frontier of human achievements is advanced not by hindering but by helping each other.
I am not a sportsperson, so I cannot comment as one. But as a human, I would say that the finest sports record is a poor substitute for the warmth and joy love can bring. You can kiss your partner and feel the warmth of his/her lips, but not with a medal.
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of point, swimmers from the Singapore national team train regularly overseas in the US or Australia. Of course, the US/Australia never had to worry about Singapore outdoing them because we're not at the level of their finest ... yet.
ReplyDeleteSportmanship is not limited to sports.
ReplyDeleteCrawford confirms he gave Olympic medal to Martina
ReplyDeleteBy RACHEL COHEN, AP Sports Writer
Jan 30, 10:21 pm EST
NEW YORK (AP)—Shawn Crawford confirmed that he gave his Olympic silver medal to Churandy Martina, the sprinter who finished second in the 200 meters but was later disqualified for running out of his lane.
“I’m like, if a guy is 10 meters in front of me, I don’t care if he stayed in the middle of his lane,” Crawford told The Associated Press on Friday after finishing third in the 60 at the Millrose Games. “He was going to beat me anyway. He didn’t impede in anybody’s race.”
Crawford, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist, originally came in fourth in Beijing. Teammate Wallace Spearmon was third but was disqualified for running out of his lane.
American officials studied video of the race and then filed a protest against Martina for the same error. Martina and his Netherland Antilles team have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, arguing that the protest was filed too late under rules set by the International Association of Athletics Federations.
Martina finished in 19.82 seconds behind world record-setter Usain Bolt. Crawford’s time was 19.96.
“It wasn’t about doing the right thing. It’s just me as an athlete—I feel like we all compete and train for four years to get to the Olympic Games,” Crawford said. “We got there, he was told he finished second after all that, he took a victory lap. I can understand his humiliation and embarrassment and all that.
“Me being an athlete, I know how he feels, so I feel like it was to me to give it up to him.”
Crawford left the medal for Martina at a hotel during a meet shortly after the Olympics. The two have since spoken about it.
“He was very surprised, thankful about it,” Crawford said. “He thought it was very big of me to step up like that.”
Updated Jan 30, 10:21 pm EST