Sports Betting Articles
A New Medal System For the Olympics
By Bernard Steele
Cast your minds around America and see if you can find a young boy and girl who are talented and ambitious. These kids are superb athletes and perhaps they are dreaming of the day when they could represent their country at the Olympics. They work hard, study hard, and deny themselves many of the joys and privileges of youth.
The time comes when they excel at high school athletics and move on to college where they continue to meet the challenges with distinction. Eventually they are confronted with the rigors of the trials for Olympic selection and lo and behold they are successful. After the first flush of pride has subsided. Our young heroes set about conditioning themselves for the biggest challenge of all, Olympic gold. In their quiet moments they imagine themselves thundering across the track and breaking the tape ahead of the competition. The daydreaming continues as they trot the lap of honor wrapped in the American flag while the audience shout and cheer, and their parents and siblings dissolve into tears.
The day finally arrives and the girl's event is the first. She is out on the field warming up and she is nervous and scared, but this is good, she is ready to be the best she can be. The race starts and she takes off as fast as her feet can carry her, she glances to her left and sees four of the fastest women in the world slowly but surely overtaking her. With every fiber if her being she strives to forge ahead but the end come and she is in fourth place. She stands on the track, hands on her knees, bent almost double, panting for breath and sobbing to break her heart. The time finally comes when she packs her bags says her good-byes to her fellow athletics and heads for home "Empty handed."
The young man presenting America suffered the same fate. He made a bad start and never managed to finish in the top three positions. He too was forced to face the agony of defeat. Do you think that there is something wrong with this picture? I certainly do.
In the United States and across the world there are young men and women who by virtue of performance are selected to represent their homeland. I cannot begin to imagine the emotions they experience when this honor is bestowed on them, but sadly the majority of the world's athletes will return home defeated and perhaps regarded as losers. This should not be, anyone who is selected to represent their country and does so with honor is a champion, and should be honored as such.
The existing system recognizes the winner with gold, second place with sliver, and the third with bronze. I have a question, would the Olympic committee consider,
Fist place - Platinum
Second Place - Gold
Third Place - Silver and,
A bronze medal for every participating athletic who starts their event and competes without disqualification? Let us give our champions something to take home and be proud of. There are no losers at the Olympics.
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