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Is Winning Everything?

Of course everyone wants to win. Everyone wants to be liked, admired, and respected for their achievements. It is perfectly normal to want to win, and winning is a worthwhile goal.

Where all of this can go terribly wrong is when winning becomes the all-consuming goal. That is, when the desire to win is so great that is causes one to consider dishonest and excessive methods.

At the ancient Greek games, athletes caught cheating were forced to pay for statues of themselves. These "ZANES" were lined up at the entrance to the stadium and all athletes who were to compete had to pass them by as they entered the stadium.

One such method of cheating today is the use of illegal (and usually harmful) drugs seeking to enhance athletic performance. Increasingly, athletic organizations are insisting that competitors subject themselves to drug tests, and they are punishing those individuals found to have taken drugs.

In 1988, Ben Johnson of Canada broke the world record in the 100 meter dash, but lost the record and the gold medal when he was disqualified because anabolic steroids showed up in his urine sample.

Failure to abide by the rules and the spirit of the rules is destructive to the sport. When players use illegal tactics -- such as holding, pushing, tripping, etc. -- even without being detected, they have violated the letter of the rules. When such illegal tactics are taught to players, the coaches have violated the spirit of the rules and, indeed, the spirit of all competitive athletics.

When athletes lose their self-control and attack their opponents or heatedly protest the decisions of referees or judges, they have usually violated the letter of the rules and, most certainly, the spirit of the rules. When coaches, school officials, parents, or spectators lose their self-control, they have set a most unfortunate example and dishonored the sport.

Fair competition, the Olympic ideal, is based upon two basic premises:

that athletes abide by the rules and not seek unfair advantage; and

that athletes treat each other not as enemies but as co-players who, while competing fiercely against each other, afford each other the respect due to comrades in the same sport.

Think about it -- opponents are necessary partners. How can we have sports events without them?

It is impossible to have a competitive sporting event without rules or referees to insure that they are followed. When the rules are consistently broken and the judges ignored, that sport disintegrates and is in danger of becoming a farce.

Excerpted from Olympism by the U.S. Olympic Committee
© 1996 by Griffin Publishing Group
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