Courtesy: Charles Hartley
The suddenness of it all when you touch the wall. Did I win gold? Did I win a medal? What was my time? Who won?
You feel this for the Olympic swimmers as they finish their races which are the crescendo moments of their young lives.
It’s all so raw. The emotions, the honest facial expressions, the tears of joy and relief and sadness and not knowing how to feel. Right there in front of us, race after race. Tears get loose in post-race press conferences. We saw Katie Ledecky and Adam Peaty let go. It’s all so much, emotionally, swimming and all it entails.
“I’m not going to lie to you, I wish I had won gold,” said Bobby Finke after winning the silver in the 800 freestyle after winning gold in the same event in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Emotions gush forth. You don’t see this every day at work. You don’t see it much at all, actually. You tend to only see it at seminal events like Olympic swimming and weddings and graduations when massive preparation meets major tests under extreme pressure with stakes sky high.
Swimmers open their mouths after races. They stare at the scoreboard. Exhaustion floods the pool. They grab the lane ropes, sometimes, deep in thought.
I’ll never forget what Michael Phelps said after winning his last 400-meter individual medley. It was the hardest race he had ever been in and would never do it again, he said. Think about that: the greatest swimmer ever opening up about how painful a swimming race felt. So well conditioned beyond belief yet still not immune to the agony of swimming super fast.
I think now about all the fourth-place finishers who came less than one second from winning a medal but will go home without one. We love all of you. We are as proud of you as the medal winners. Believe us because it’s the truth.
Fourth is tantalizingly tough to deal with. And yet there are others who didn’t make the race of the final eight, out-touched in the semi-finals by others. Their Olympic dreams of winning gold gone before the final race. They went to Paris expecting to swim several races yet weren’t invited to all of them.
So many hopes. So many disappointments. Such a meritocracy. So much wondering what could have been done differently to touch that wall in the top three.
About Charles Hartley
Charles Hartley is a freelance writer based in Davidson, NC. He has a masters degree in journalism and a masters degree in business administration.
Think of Alex Walsh who finished third in her only individual Olympic event, yet was disqualified for an illegal turn. It was a legit call, but the emotional pain she must be experiencing must be heartbreaking. I feel so bad for her, she deserves better.