{"id":12191,"date":"2026-02-22T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/?p=12191"},"modified":"2026-03-06T12:39:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T20:39:53","slug":"olympic-athletes-why-do-they-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/olympics\/olympic-athletes-why-do-they-do-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Olympic Athletes, Why Do They Do It?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"skier
Photo by Federico Tomasoni on Pexels.com<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019d just finished lunch\u2014a big bowl of chili, a green salad, and homemade bread\u2014when my cousin, MM, leaned forward with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. \u201cIf you were an Olympic athlete,\u201d she asked, \u201cwhat kind would you want to be?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposition was pure fantasy. None of us would ever be sent to the Olympics. But after a couple of glasses of champagne, it was fun to imagine what might have been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My sister Sue didn\u2019t see it that way. \u201cNone. Never. Absolutely not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MM and I thought about it, though. \u201cCross-country skier,\u201d MM decided after a few minutes. \u201cI did a lot of cross-country around our mountain cabin, and I was pretty good at it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I couldn\u2019t think of any winter sports I was good at, so I went in another direction. \u201cPairs skating,\u201d I said. \u201cI like the beauty and grace of it\u2014flying across the ice, our bodies synchronized with the music and with each other, a partner strong enough to throw me high in the air.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"ice
aschutz57Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNope,\u201d Sue said again. \u201cNone of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We took another sip of champagne and then followed Sue into the kitchen where she dished up ice cream and berries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We brought our pretty little blue bowls of berries and ice cream back to the table, and while we ate, Sue and MM peered out the window trying to identify the birds in the neighbors\u2019 feeder. I was still thinking about pairs skating though. Come to think of it, there was no way I\u2019d be willing to jump out of bed early morning after morning to train in an ice rink, to fall again and again. And for what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet all those Olympic athletes do it. They choose<\/em> to do it. Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple of days later I was asking myself the same question as I watched the snowboarders. Have you seen them? I mean, those guys are crazy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet \u2026 and yet, this urge to achieve seems to be part of our nature. Our babies aren\u2019t content lying in their cribs and waiting for their bottles. No, they want to walk, even though they\u2019re bound to fall again and again. Before long they\u2019ll want to ride a bike. And there are always those who are more talented or daring who teach themselves to ride hands free. Jumping rope may be fun, but with some skill and effort, you could do Double Dutch. Why not? And doesn\u2019t that make you feel good!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe that\u2019s the answer. It makes you feel good to accomplish something hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then, I heard another answer later that day. An interviewer was asking an athlete why he did what he did. His answer: \u201cI found out I was good at it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

********<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there something you’ve thought you did well enough that you were willing to spend a lot of time and effort on it even though there might not be a payoff in the end?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

********<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019d just finished lunch\u2014a big bowl of chili, a green salad, and homemade bread\u2014when my cousin, MM, leaned forward with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. \u201cIf you were an Olympic athlete,\u201d she asked, \u201cwhat kind would you want to be?\u201d The proposition was pure fantasy. None of us would ever be sent to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2754,2753,2755],"tags":[2758,2757,2756,2760,2759],"class_list":["post-12191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ice-dancing","category-olympics","category-the-urge-to-achieve","tag-cross-country-skiing","tag-ice-dancing","tag-olympics-athletes","tag-the-urge-to-excellence","tag-why-be-an-olympic-athlete"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Kn1e-3aD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4680,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/photography\/beach-walk-on-a-sunny-winter-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":12191,"position":0},"title":"Beach Walk on a Sunny Winter Day","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"January 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A sunny day in winter, and I had nothing to do after church but get out and enjoy the nice weather. 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