Silver medal is won after losing
Bronze medal is won after winning.
Gold medal, well that is another emotion!
Yes, I choose to call India – A nation of happy people, in spite of us being ranked 139th on the World Happiness Index this year.
Let’s look at something I stumbled upon in Psychology called “Counterfactual Thinking”! A phenomenon published about repeatedly every Olympic year since 1992 when few researchers analysed how bronze and silver medallists reacted to winning their medals at the 1992 Olympic Games in Spain. Initial studies showed, bronze medallists to be happier than those who bagged silver medals.
A scientific study analysed immediate facial expressions of sportspersons immediately after winning or losing a medal. Their facial muscle movements and eye positions were studied and they found that bronze medallists had more ‘genuine smiles’.
They found that silver medallists compare themselves to the gold medallist and thereby think of what they didn't achieve; the bronze medallists also focus on what didn't happen: They didn't come in fourth or fail to get a medal.
For most of India, before the contingent leaves for Olympics we do not expect any gold. In some sports like shooting, wrestling, boxing, badminton and few others, a few of us know there is a possibility of ‘a medal’; a bronze or even a silver but never gold. As the games proceed, when a sportsperson is in sniffing distance of a medal, most households in sync say 'Medal aayega- Bronze tho pukka milega'. Some even get to the extent of expecting bronze for both the participants in a bronze match, even if that’s true only for combat sports in Olympics. Wrestlers and Boxers with their past bronze medals have set our expectations to ‘Bronze dono ko milna chahiye’ for all sports!
Nations have priorities set differently. For a nation that came out of colonial rule 75 years ago, our conditioning has been different. It was about getting kids educated so that they could find means to earn for the family and future generations. Look at Indians winning Spelling Bees all across the world or leading International organisations to know what I mean. Cricket has been recently added as an acceptable career to secure your future generations.
That is why I disagree with a certain politician's ‘occasional bronze medal’ comment while comparing us to the regimented China where they denounce athletes for winning silver! I think he should be happy that we win international gold in spell bees all the time ;)
‘Sharmaji ka beta’ & ‘World Cup mein Pakistan se nahi haarna’ are our classic versions of gold and silver based counterfactual thinking. We haven’t set any competitive benchmark against nations that reap gold in Olympics, so we have low expectations. Combine that with our conditioning of ‘Studies over Sports’, we generally don’t have a feeling of regret if we don’t win Silver or Gold and are fascinated by the bronze medals. Such expectations do motivate us to do better, even if it makes us sadder if we don’t win. At least no one destroys a television set if India didn’t win a medal at Olympics J
In the state that we are in right now, especially after the devastating 2nd wave in India, and the conditions in which these athletes have trained (few may have even contracted the virus in the past one year) they have definitely given their best. Considering the little to no support they get from the system and the huge emotional support and expectations that they carry of their village and town; each medal is a Gold for us!
Research shows that most Indians prioritise happiness & health over money. For more than 72% of us, success is ‘being happy and healthy’. Even if we believe we live in a non-egalitarian social system, where our economic inequalities are rising and our trust in fellow citizens is much higher than in our system, we still look at success as health and happiness. With that yardstick, we honour the efforts of our athletes who trained in tough conditions, whereas their expectations from this medal are probably just water and electricity connections to their villages or like Mirabai Chanu, an opportunity to thank every truck driver who ferried her to training.
These ‘Bronze’ emotions are pure & genuine joy for what they have put in.
Unfortunately, Olympics is a not an Aamir’s ‘Lagaan’ where we expect Bhuvan to hit that magical six, nor are we pleading for a tax waiver on a win. We are 1.7 billion people strong with one of the largest economies in the world. Talent is waiting to be picked, nurtured and introduced into a system that works for them. Where is the missing link, we wonder…
Human nature is to start investing once we see silver lining and golden moments in trends. Cricket had its golden moment in 1983; it nurtured talent and found its Tendulkars, Dhonis, & Kohlis, to name a few. A whole new management system of cricket was devised and gave its stakeholders a profitable business worth investing into. We should be able to do that for each sport after we see a ‘silver lining’ or a ‘golden moment’ instead of momentary celebrations and pay checks.
Following through this elated feeling of one Gold is extremely important. We have many examples of our athletes excelling in one sport with their own investments. After all the joy and glory in the media, the system fails to capitalise or build a movement in the sport or find stake holders to invest in these events. Abhinav Bindra, our only other Olympic Gold medallist is an example!
With Neeraj Chopra raising his Javelin and thrusting the entire athletics community of India into a new Golden Orbit, we should with pride and determination invest into building a nation of Athletes. A case of factual thinking over counterfactual thinking!
An old saying went, “It takes a village to raise an athlete”.
Circa, the New Age and it now takes a system of the Government, Infrastructure & Training to raise an ‘elite athlete’.
'Bohot Sateek' !!
*Point well made.