I do know I’m one of many few sports writers leaping to my keyboard to riff on Mikaela Shiffrin breaking the all-time report for wins — incomes No. 87 in Åre, Sweden, and passing Ingemar Stenmark on Saturday — however I wished to subject this as a reminder that Olympic success is sort of bullshit. The final picture the sports world had of Shiffrin was her sobbing after crashing her method off of China’s rinky-dink, half-covered ski mountain on the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
It’s an outlier, and a one-off. Her dominance resumed as quickly as she received again to programs and circumstances befitting World Cup snowboarding. Yet the informal fan isn’t locked into area of interest sports. Olympic medals have been ringz tradition earlier than we even knew ringz tradition existed. Think about if gamers have been solely allowed to win championships each fourth 12 months. Those different three don’t matter, as a result of this occasion is the one one which does.
The specialists stated Lionel Messi wanted a World Cup win to cement his standing because the GOAT, and we agreed as a substitute of appreciating the truth that he has sufficient awards and {hardware} to fill an condominium constructing. In sports, the whole lot have to be ranked, measured, and sorted in its correct place. The level of sports is competitors, and everybody is both a winner or a loser.
If that’s all that issues, then why do we have Hall of Fames or All-NBA groups or All-Star video games with gamers who don’t have titles? The causes for watching sports and taking part in them aren’t the identical. If the rivals had their method, they’d beat the brakes off the opposition and the viewers could be disinterested by halftime.
The motive we watch sports is to see who wins but in addition for the drama, the storylines, and the world-class athleticism. If it was solely in regards to the end result, you’d simply watch for the ESPN app to inform you the ultimate. We wish to take within the greatness, the awe-inspiring expertise. Zion Williamson dunks. Bo Jackson runs.
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And Mikaela Shiffrin ripping up an alpine course.
An appreciation {of professional} winter athletes
The motive I care about Shiffrin is as a result of my private favourite sport (exercise?) is snowboarding. Sitting on the raise and seeing somebody going mach 5 out and in of the bushes like a well-trained James Bond physique double is a lot enjoyable. I’ve hit tremendous excessive speeds in response to the app on my telephone, however I’ve additionally ridden the runs that Shiffrin and Co. are straight-lining it down, and it’s no joke.
The similar factor for the individuals on the X Games. There’s zero method of contextualizing how large these jumps are and the way steep the terrain is till you see it in individual. The psychological fortitude it takes to do the feats they do — inches away from hospital beds at each flip — is fucking badass. And that’s how I’d describe Shiffrin.
She’s a fucking badass. The fucking badass. She’s on the market competing towards solely herself. Very few of her rivals are even shut.
So don’t let medalz tradition sway you as a result of she’s the winningest skier within the sport and can go down because the GOAT when she hangs up her ski boots.
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