It has been a few weeks since The Paris Summer Olympics came to a close, but I am still reeling from the lessons learned from every event. Priding myself as once being a somewhat accomplished amateur, I can appreciate to a certain degree the price these men and women have paid to represent our country.
Each and every athlete, in each and every event, is highly skilled, trained, disciplined and more than worthy to sport the jacket with the letters USA embroidered on the back.
Here are just a few of my observations as the games unfolded.
- Preparation. You don’t get to the Olympics on a hope and a prayer. It takes years to map out a path and a great deal of practice, fears, and tears.
- Coaching. With no exceptions, every athlete has come to depend on professional coaching and guidance if they have a sincere interest in bringing home the gold.
- Pride. You can see it in their faces. They each recognize the price they have paid and they all feel they deserve to be there.
- Competitive Spirit. The competition is beyond approach. There are no “gimmesPer.” Every athlete that takes part has the ability to win. Their attitude is, “Bring it on.”
- Confidence. When you are good you know you are good. All of our athletes are good, and they know it.
- Community. It is fun to watch otherwise toe-to-toe competitors here at home, come together when representing a common team. Team USA.
- Teamwork. Prior to arriving in Paris, many athletes were the toast of the town. All of a sudden they find themselves on a talented team. It was fun to watch them pass the baton or dish to the open player.
- Persistence. When the USA found themselves falling behind, I just sat back saying to myself, “Don’t panic. They will soon rebound.”
- Focus. On camera close-ups, you could see the concentration of each participant. You often saw them silently mouthing the words, “I’ve got this.”
- Effort. Regardless of their current position or point totals, everybody gave 110% each day, every day.
- Exhilaration. The joy on the faces once they realized they had succeeded was priceless.
- Disappointment. The tears running down the faces of competitors who fell short of their dreams were heart-breaking.
- Relief. In the final festivities, once the games had come to an end, you could see the relief in everyone’s smile knowing that they could finally relax and absorb the celebration.
I’m not implying everyone saw what I saw, but I am saying that I am already counting the days until the Winter Games where I will see and feel the emotions of our world’s best competitors.
Mike Marchev is always looking for a few more proactive travel professionals to join his Sales and Marketing Club, mike@mikemarchev.com.
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