Still Running (weakly). Issue 31

PAST – inspiration – “You’re wrapping yourself in cotton wool,” said Lynn Davies to Igor Ter-Ovanesyan. The two long jumpers – Welsh and Soviet respectively – were friendly rivals, preparing for the Olympic Games in Mexico City in 1968. After every training session, Ter-Ovanesyan would have a warm bath, get his legs massaged and undergo heat treatment. It was this fastidiousness that Davies was scoffing at.

The Welshman had won gold at the previous games in Tokyo 1964, whilst Ter-Ovanesyan had only managed a bronze, matching his result from Rome 1960. By 1968, the latter was multiple European champion and joint holder of the world record, and his reply to Davies’s jibe changed the mood of the conversation entirely: “But, you see, at 30, I must take no chances, because this is my last opportunity.”

PRESENT – perspiration – There is something about Olympic year that concentrates the mind. Leaving to one side the World Cups for team sports and the Majors and Slams for golf and tennis, in many sports, especially individual ones, a competitor’s status and legacy are determined by the brutally simple question of whether or not they won an Olympic gold medal. Daley Thompson, Kelly Holmes, Seb Coe and Jessica Ennis-Hill did. Brendan Foster, Paula Radcliffe, Steve Cram and Liz McColgan didn’t.

And so, as 2023 ticks over into 2024, I wonder what is going through the minds of those with their first, their only, or perhaps most poignantly their last chance at ultimate sporting glory.

FUTURE – suggestion – And the funny thing is, my friends, this tension, this focus can extend to all of us – if we let it. It’s not just the newspaper interviews with Olympic hopefuls; it’s not just the television profiles and previews; there’s something in the air! And it can inspire us too.

All we need is a target.

I know, I know, I’ve banged on about this before. But if you give yourself the right 2024 target and timeframe – something that is just about achievable but will make you work incredibly hard, and crucially something that is completely compelling for you (“I can die happy if I can just ……”) – then the motivation to train for it and to execute and achieve it on the day is taken care of in the allure of the mountain top before you.

(Igor Tev-Ovanesyan came fourth on the long jump at the 1968 Olympic Games.)