Cruelty and Romance of Sport

            Serena Williams was on the verge of making history. Sure, she has already made history before. There is no need for me to elaborate on those achievements. If she had retired before this semi-final against Roberta Vinci, without picking up her racquet ever again, she would still be considered the best of this generation and in the Top 5 tennis players of all time. But this US Open was different. She is already one of the greatest. But we are talking a level above. Winning this US Open would have elevated her to the levels of Pele, Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali and Don Bradman. ‘The Greatest’ club. At least to me.

            Better than Roger Federer and Steffi Graf, better than Sachin and Schumacher, better than Tiger Woods and Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps. That’s how remarkable her achievement would be. At least to me.

           But sport, and life in general, has always had some fundamental realities. Every time we forget, they are reinforced – in various manifestations. One of them was reinforced today. Serena lost. It was an upset for the ages.

Sport is cruel. Very cruel.

Ask Sachin Tendulkar, who after a surge of centuries, got stuck at 99 for an embarrassingly long time. His legacy was secure, but the disastrous wait for the grand event is also part of it now.

Ask Tiger Woods, who in 2008 won his 14^th Major but is still stranded at the same exact spot.

Ask Rafael Nadal, who is also stuck at 14, his odds of overtaking Federer considerably low now.

Ask Steven Gerrard, who seemed destined for Liverpool’s first EPL title and lost at the final hurdle. It got worse when he captained the England team in a horrible World Cup and finished his career with embarrassing losses to mediocre teams.

Ask Liverpool, who have been waiting for No.19 forever and seem to live more in history than reality.

Ask Badrinath, whose brilliant domestic cricket career overlapped with the careers of the Fab Four and is now lost in oblivion.

Ask those unlucky unknown sportsmen and women who lost their career to injuries, poverty and lack of opportunities.

Ask Serena herself, who stepped on glass after winning Wimbledon and lost a year when on top of the world. And has to defeat her own sister in nearly half her Slam wins. I am not even bringing up the prejudice and the intended/unintended racist views that she has to withstand. That needs a separate post of its own.

I agree, sport also has its own fairy tales – Ivanesevic and Sachin winning World Cup immediately spring into mind – but, in general, sport is cruel.  Very cruel.

But, come to think of it, the romance and beauty of sport is derived out of this cruelty only. This is what we watch sport for. For these moments when fairy tales don’t happen. This is what makes sportstars human. This is what connects them with us mere mortals, who couldn’t play beyond street/school/college.

 It is only when we recognize defeats, we truly appreciate victories.

Successes don’t create fairy tales, failures and adversities do. Success only completes them.

Best Moments of the London Olympics

You know, we humans can never stop comparing, however absurd it may be. This, of course, happens in sports as well. Who is the Greatest Cricketer of all time? Bradman or Sachin? Or Worse, Who is the Greatest Olympian of all time? Phelps, Paavo Nurmi or Jesse Owens? More often than not, we do not end with an answer to these questions, but that never stops us from doing it. Because, things like these make life interesting. The fun is not in the verdict, but in the discussion.

Similar to these comparisons is this clichéd category of articles called, ”Top Ten Moments of the (Year, Century, Olympics, Elections, Life and what not).”  Cliched, but never ignored.

So, here is my list of Best Moments from the Olympics- not the best achievements, but the moments that made me feel so good.

In no particular order..

Michael Phelps – The Magnificent Farewell

            As Michael Phelps powered home the anchor leg of the U.S. 4×200-meter freestyle relay, he did something he had never done before underwater during a race: He started smiling with about 20 meters left. He could not help himself. (Washington Post)

How does it feel to be the first ever medallist of a country?

           Just a lap away from the end. After one hour and 15 minutes of walking, you are 4^th, apprehensive if the country’s blank slate will continue to remain so. But if you are Erick Borrondo, you will get that last kick to hold your nerves, not lose hope and end with silver. He became the first ever medallist from Guatamela.

Inspiring

            This will be one of my most favourite moments. To see Tirunesh Dibaba just sprint away in her last lap of the 10000m race and win by a huge margin was the most inspiring moment of the London Olympics for me. Her last 2 laps would be in the top 20 timings for the 800m this year. Not for nothing is she known as the “Baby faced Assassin.”

Intimidating

            Sharapova, the World No 2, was playing an opponent, who just had recovered from a career threatening injury, and way below her ranking. But the scoreline read 0-6, 1-5 against her. Because, on the other side was Serena Williams, sending down an ace that would have made most male players proud. At one point, Serena had more aces than points won by Sharapova. This is what you call “Intimidating”.

The Curse of the 100m hurdles

Liu Xiang, the 2004 Athens champion, the most celebrated athlete of China, in his own turf, Beijing, had to pull out of the finals at the last moment, depriving us of what was expected to be a marquee race. Dayron Robles had hurdled to the Gold and a World Record. This London Olympic was supposed to be redemption time for him. But tragedy struck again as he fell down and injured himself in the first hurdle itself. The curse of the 100m hurdles was complete when Robles, the defending champion also hurt himself in the finals and lost. But heartrending it was when, Liu refused the wheelchair offered and walked through the 110m on one leg and supported by the winner of the race.

The most competitive event of the Games

            This is for the most passionate lovers of the Games. The top 5 women in the 200m were World Champions in 100, 200 and 400 metres in the recent past - Allyson Felix, Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce, Carmelita Jeter, Veronica Campbell and Sanya Richards Ross. It was so competitive that Sanya Richards said that she would not even run again among such great champions.

Jack of all trades but...

            Decathlon is one of the toughest events in the Olympics. While Bolt did his 7 races covering 1000m over a period of 8 days, this has 10 events happening in just 2 days. But this also means that they are not proficient in all of the events, while Bolt is, in his event. This led to quite a funny scenes, particularly in Pole Vault – jumping in a crazy style, in the opposite direction, falling face flat on the mat were some of the scenes witnessed.

What a moment!!!

            This is very difficult for me to explain. This picture tells the complete story. This is how Carmelita Jeter( My Darling) reacted when she realised she is going to set a WR in the 4*100m relay.

Who am I?

Guor Marial completed the Men’s marathon at 47^th position but still made headlines in atleast a dozen countries. Why? He ran away from his home in South Sudan to the US when he was 15, but he is not a US citizen yet. And South Sudan has still not been recognised by the Olympic committee. So he ran under the Olympic flag itself signalling hope to millions of people like him, His position in the race was never a matter of concern, wasn’t it?

Never again say “Dont cry like a girl”

            This has been a universal phenomenon in this Games – grown up men crying like babies. Two particular winners stand out – Mo Farah and Felix Sanchez. They just couldn’t stop crying on the podium.

                    I am still waiting for the day when I could be one among those 80000 cheering the most competitive race, a double amputee running, grown up men crying, a photo finish to a punishing triathlon or a injured athlete spiritedly finishing his race.