In the 2008 Summer Olympics Games in Beijing, Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian was so disgusted to have won merely a bronze medal that he threw it away.
Here is a snippet of the story:
Abrahamian, who won silver in the Athens Olympics four years earlier, threw down his 84 kg Greco-Roman bronze in disgust after his shot at gold was ended by a decision denounced by the Swedish coach as “politics”.
Abrahamian took the medal from around his neck during the medal ceremony, stepped from the podium and dropped it in the middle of the mat before storming off.
[you can read the rest of the story here]
As a result the IOC decided that the Swedish wrestler was undeserving of an Olympic honour and disqualified him.
Are you a graceful loser?
This wrestler may have had every right to be angry because he thought he was unfairly disqualified but he could have had more grace.
Losing is an inevitable part of life – sometimes it comes fairly and sometimes it doesn’t.
How we respond to losing is what’s most important.
I don’t know if I would have acted any differently than this Swedish wrestler. I don’t enjoy losing – especially if I think I lost unfairly.
I do believe though that even in these circumstances we can be a graceful loser. It won’t be easy but that’s when our true character shows!
Losing well is an art that requires all the grace I can muster. It means having the humility to face reality full in the face with no excuses but the confidence not to allow losing to define my identity. It means no excuses, no blaming, no self-pity – but no self-condemnation either . . . It means learning to say congratulations. It means learning to let go of an outcome I cannot change but to hold on to the will to live fully and well.” (John Ortberg “When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box” pg. 210-212).
Are you a graceful loser?
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It is true that sometimes the best judge of a winners’s character is how well they handle defeat. I too don’t enjoy loss but it is a part of the sport. Sometimes the biggest winners are the losers.
Losing sucks but losing with a bad attitude sucks even more.
Thanks for sharing Gerald!
How you act in these tough situations determines the character of a person. No one likes to lose, but these things are just part and parcel of life. Many of us do act in the fit of a moment, but regret things later.
Yes we do!
Thanks for sharing Richa!
People who take losing casually are very few in the world. We all have the habit of acting spontaneously and can’t tolerate a defeat. Winning and losing is nothing, what matters is how much effort you have put in a thing, Even at times when we lose without any mistake of ours, we should accept it gracefully. Life gives us many chances to prove ourselves.
Great thoughts Abhishek! I absolutely agree with you.
Thanks for sharing.