Mediating a podium finish ... without the sore losers

If you are a consumer of Time magazine online, you might have seen a list the current affairs media giant recently published. It was called: “A brief history of Olympic sore losers, and highlighted the actions of South Korean boxer Byun Jong, who was penalized for head-butting his competitor during a match in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Byun sat down in the middle of the ring and refused to get up for over an hour. He stayed put for so long that officials eventually turned off the lights and left him sitting in darkness.

Among the many victory stories being told in the post-Olympic honeymoon period — and Canada has so much to beat its chest over — we shouldn’t forget the stories of those who were gracious in defeat.

When Norway’s men curlers lost to favourites Canada in the final’s match, skip Thomas Ulsrud quipped: “I thought we could never lose in these (harlequin) pants, but those Canadian guys played brilliantly today.”

It truly was a “tough pill” for Sudbury’s Devon Kershaw to swallow, after finishing fifth and 1.6 seconds behind the gold medal winner in the 50 km cross country ski race. “Sport is a beauty and a curse,” Kershaw was reported as saying in a recent Toronto Star article.

And it was also a curse to not even be able to compete. One can only imagine the tremendous feelings of defeat and loss the family of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili felt when he died after crashing into a pole during a training run — just hours before the games were to start.

There are many, many other stories of athletes and their supporters who rose above the pain of loss to embrace the gift that each unique setting had to offer.

Quebec skater Joannie Rochette likely never thought she would lose her biggest supporter — her mother — shortly after the start of the Winter Games. The top Canadian contender in women’s figure skating learned her mother died of a heart attack just days before she was to compete. Despite this tremendous burden, Rochette took to the ice and eventually won a bronze medal.

“No matter what the outcome, I know I gave it everything,” she was quoted as saying to NBC.

Rochette lost two dreams — a future with her mother and the prospect of a gold medal — and yet embraced the gift of life and the opportunity to go forward and pursue even bigger dreams. She says she will compete in the world championships later this month.

The gift of a good perspective is amazing. Sore losers may have a longer learning curve than graceful losers, but they still have the opportunity to embrace this same gift.

Now that the Olympics have wound down around the men’s hockey gold medal win, one can’t help but wonder how exploratory talks are working out between Vale Inco and United Steelworkers Local 6500. Will either one of them go for gold in overtime? Will they be willing to put the death of an old agreement behind them and forge a new one based on truth and reconciliation? Will they collectively yield the podium’s top spot to the greater good of a fair collective agreement?

Here’s hoping either side won’t sit down in the middle of the ring and refuse to get up. Here’s hoping they’ll choose to give it their everything.

Wendy Bird is managing editor of Northern Life.