Contrary to popular opinion, the killer instinct isn’t a prerequisite of sporting success. In fact, it’s an unhealthy attribute to develop. It’s much healthier and personally and socially more beneficial to regard opponents as partners who, because of their competitive effort, afford you the opportunity to raise the level of your performance. You depend on them to extend your limits. One of the most memorable stories of athletes as partners comes to us from the 1936 Olympic Games staged in Berlin, orchestrated by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler to prove that Germans were the master race. Jesse Owens, the great Afro-American athlete representing the United States, was a world record holder in the long jump. After fouling his first two attempts, Owens was on the verge of being eliminated in the heats. Before his third and final jump, Lutz Long, Germany’s top jumper, rushed to his side and proffered a crucial tactical suggestion. Owens followed his advice and qualified for the final. Both athletes continued to push each other until Owens set an Olympic record in his last jump. Sportingly, Lutz held Owens’ hand aloft before thousands of cheering spectators, and both walked out of the stadium arm-in-arm. Owens went on to win four gold medals, denting the dictator’s master race propaganda. The verb “to compete” is derived from the Latin competere, meaning “to seek together”. Physical educators of the 1920s taught sportsmanship as well as track and field skills, emphasising health, vigour, high moral conduct, participation, and respect for opponents and rivals. Nowadays too, many men and women compete whole-heartedly without buying into the “super bull” mentality that winning is everything. They develop mutual respect and ties of friendship which often last a lifetime. They understand that to win is not to belittle; that winning is not fulfilling if the norms of fairplay aren’t respected, or participants don’t derive pleasure regardless of disappointments and failure. In his book The Ultimate Athlete, George Leonard claims that “every aikidoist (a martial art) faces the problem of finding a good partner who will attack with real intent. The greatest gift he can receive from his opponent is clean, true attack, the blow that — unless blocked or avoided — will strike home with real effect”. Leonard’s message is clear: be thankful to your opponents. They are the people who enable you to experience the joy of sport, and push you to new heights. While I may not have understood this truth when I was young, building lasting friendships has been a theme of my sporting life as well, together with physical competence, achievement and joy. Though I’ve competed in seven sporting disciplines from junior high school to the professional level, I have only a few memories of victories and defeats. I don’t believe winning taught me to be a gracious winner or losing readied me for more serious losses in life. Rather, 70 years of consistent participation in competitive sports and games has taught me how to play with empathy, humour and honesty. If…
