This one is hard for me to grasp fully. If I made it to the Olympics, I would be overwhelmed with joy even if I didn't win. However, that’s coming from the perspective of knowing I was never good enough at my sport to even entertain the idea of being an athlete there. For five years in college, I trained with other athletes in Cross Country and Track who ultimately went to Olympic trials, qualified for the games, and some even won medals. The gap between myself and those athletes was huge, especially when looking at our training. It wasn’t much different, if different at all.
Since I’ve trained with so many athletes at a high level, it’s hard for me to even contemplate the hypothetical.
However, stepping into a race where I knew I had a legitimate chance of winning and then not winning was always devastating, and I hated it. I still hate it now, but there’s a whole lot less winning as I’ve gotten older