The highs and lows of the 2012 Olympic 'crying games'
August 10, 2012 -- Updated 1908 GMT (0308 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Tearful displays from athletes prompts nickname "the crying games"
- Experts: Crying is a release that represents pressure athletes have been managing for years
- Displays indicate society's willingness to share emotions in honest way, therapist says
He was the 400-meter
hurdles champion in Athens in 2004 but failed to repeat that victory in
Beijing in 2008 after learning that his beloved "abuela" had died
shortly before his first race. He didn't advance to the semifinals but
resolved to return in four years.
"I kind of made a promise
I would win one more championship for her," Sanchez told CNN. "I was
holding a lot of emotions, a lot of tears throughout the week just
watching other medal ceremonies prior to the semifinals and prior to the
finals, just picturing myself on the medal stand winning gold and how
it would feel in that moment."
When the moment came
Tuesday, just after his win was confirmed, he tearfully collapsed on the
track, pulling a picture of his grandmother out of his bib. The tears
continued on the podium as his country's anthem played.
Felix Sanchez's tears for grandmother
Such displays from
Sanchez and other athletes, including Kerri Walsh Jennings, Chris Hoy
and Ruta Meilutyte to name just a few, have led a few sports columnists
to dub this summer's Olympics "the crying games."
Mere mortals might find
it unnerving to witness such emotional outpour from these superhuman
beings, who have spent years learning to manage emotions and maintain
discipline. But psychologists, coaches, therapists and image consultants
agree that athletes don't deserve to be lambasted for unleashing the
waterworks in moments of success or failure. They're human, after all,
and after years of hard work they've earned the right.
"Crying is an emotional
release that represents the uncertainty, pressure and sacrifice that
they have been managing for years," said sports psychologist Leah Lagos,
who worked with athletes competing in the London Olympics to develop
strategies to reduce anxiety. "Crying is a release that validates all
their hard work and training over the years."
While athletes might
demonstrate extraordinary self-control throughout years of training,
they experience an out-of-body experience when they win the ultimate
prize, said Los Angeles-based image consultant Farrah Parker.
"In the few seconds
following a victory, their entire life flashes before their eyes
including struggles, excessive training, previous victories, and
defeats."
Crying also sends a
positive message to viewers that it's OK to show emotion within the
proper context. These days, most athletes are aware that they're role
models and know that when the world is watching, there's a time and
place to jump up and down joyfully and to pound a wall in anger.
"It all tells us that we
as a society are 'comfortable' enough with our emotions to share the
importance of these lifetime achievements in an honest way," said Lynda
Veto, a cognitive therapist based in Princeton, New Jersey.
An informal review of medal ceremonies by The Wall Street Journal
found that, as of Wednesday, about 16% of 129 gold medal winners cried
at some point during the ceremony. Among the three countries with the
most gold medals at the time, athletes from Great Britain cried the
most, with 37.5%, followed by American winners (17%), then China (7%),
the paper noted.
If there seems to be
more crying than usual this year, as commentators and The Wall Street
Journal analysis suggest, it could be because of society's growing
acceptance of men and women expressing emotion, Parker said.
"As society evolves, we
recognize the need to be professional yet alive. Displaying emotion at
appropriate times no longer equates to an athlete's inability to 'make
it' in the real world."
Or it could just be that
the cameras are in their faces at every moment, capturing them in the
most vulnerable moments of their lives. The cameras stayed on South
Korean fencer Shin A-Lam for more than an hour as she sat on the court,
face in her hands amid tearful shudders while judges mulled her coach's
appeal.
Emotional displays
aren't for everyone. Gymnasts Aly Raisman and Catalina Ponor did not
betray a single emotion as they awaited the results of an appeal of the
beam. When Raisman prevailed, bumping Ponor to third place, Ponor simply
walked off the floor, stoically if not somewhat sullen, while Raisman
smiled and hugged her coach.
While each athlete has
his or her own way of dealing with pressure, emotional displays can
endear athletes to viewers -- and to potential corporate sponsors,
Parker said.
"When an athlete cries
at the podium, he or she projects an image that screams 'I'm human.' For
corporations who seek a 'just like you' brand ambassador, then an
athlete who expresses emotion may just do the trick.
"While the audience
knows that the Olympian reflects athleticism at its finest, the emotion
allows the potential consumer to connect with the endorser instead of
disconnecting based on the monstrous gaps that separates their athletic
abilities."
Managing emotions is a
huge part of sports training on which athletes spend a considerable
amount of time, energy and money through a variety of techniques, from
yoga and meditation to mindfulness.
Another increasingly popular method known as biofeedback focuses on developing breathing techniques to keep the heart rate down.
The key is for athletes
to learn their "optimal state for performance," or the emotional and
mental state that enables the best of their abilities to shine in
performance, said mental conditioning coach and former triathlete Chris
Janzen, whose practice focuses on unlocking "the clarity, mental
strength and emotional endurance" to help athletes maximize their
potential.
"Some thrive from
pressure and some need to reduce pressure," Janzen said. "For some, like
Usain Bolt, he is very relaxed, jovial and even playful to other
athletes and certainly to the camera just moments before the gun goes
off. Other athletes will be at their best with more intense focus and a
more serious, intimidating approach."
Managing stress takes a lot of work on top of training to become the fastest hurdler in the world or the best on the beam. When
it pays off in the form of victory, it's an authentic realization of
human endeavor and potential, Janzen said, the awesomeness of which just
might make you cry.
"They are not losing
control as much as being set free of the box they were in," Janzen said.
"After months and sometimes years of sacrifice and preparation -- a
level of dedication to one goal that most will never fully appreciate --
they can finally let go of all the rules and regiments and embrace that
they did it."
There's no specific
formula that leads to emotional outbursts on the winner's podium, but
being on the world stage can certainly heighten the emotion.
"There's a connection
that you're representing something bigger than yourself that adds to the
experience and the emotions behind it," said retired gymnast Kirk
Mango, a collegiate Division I national champion who has been coaching
high school sports for 30 years in Illinois.
"It's kind of a final
release after all those days, months and years of training. It becomes a
reality, something that was a dream or maybe something that someone
told you wasn't possible."
Plus, it all makes for
good TV. Longtime producers of sports programs and telecasts are all too
familiar with the stock phrases about defensive plays and going out
there and giving it your best. They know a good moment when they see it.
"It's all about looking
for the genuine emotion. You can tell when someone's being real or
giving you crocodile tears," said retired sports anchor Lee Gordon.
"As reporters, we're
always looking for that great moment, and you know when you've found
someone. There's only so many of those moments, so if you show real raw
true emotion we run with it."
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