Is your rival really your foe?

 

Is your rival really your foe?

In a 5000m track and field event at the Rio Olympics, Nikki Hamblin from the New Zealand, struggling with injuries fell on the track bringing down Abbey D’Agostino, another athlete from the USA running behind her.

The American was up but instead of continuing she began helping the Kiwi athlete to complete the race. Later both athletes were in agony due to respective injuries but helped each other to complete the race together depicting the true Olympic spirit.

Both athletes were awarded the fair play award for helping a rival in pain.

The gesture was like a speck of gold.

Uruguay V/s Portugal – FIFA World Cup 2018

In the seventieth minute of the round of 16 match, Edinson Cavani - Uruguayan forward cramped and was in agony.

Cristiano Ronaldo was focused on winning the game for his country that evening. But watching a fellow footballer struggle he stepped up to help.  

A rival like Cavani was in a way fighting to squash Cristiano’s desires. It was really nice to see one of the great footballers of all time put a hand on his rival’s shoulder.

There are many football matches in which the behavior of players is both appalling and intolerable. This was one of the key moments of that tournament.

It wasn’t about proving anything to anyone but such gestures provide pure joy. Everyone applauds winners but you cannot erase such actions of champions even if the result went the other way.

Is winning the only thing?

A sportsman knows his rival has spent umpteen hours watching videos to study his game. During the match also the rival indulges in conspiracy theories and may go any length to win. Neither the sportsman nor his rival wants to give an inch but believe in transitioning their game, pushing beyond limits each day.

Both men inspire each other to live for the moment, to show the world what they are capable of. Nothing else matters as only beating each other could lift them to greatness. Tomorrow an injury arrives and their careers may fade into oblivion. Playing to the best of their abilities is the only thing they know best.

In a way, they inspire each other to raise their games to outrageous levels and realize their innate talents.

That, to me, is a wonderful fragment of sport.

Federer and Nadal and Djokovic – mentors to each other

The evolution of these three men at the same time has brought about a revolution in modern Tennis. They are brilliant men to have ever lifted a tennis racket and the fact has been broadly accepted by most. They know each other’s game so well that key differentiators I think is the mindset of the losing player or a minute loss in concentration on a particular day.

The number of slams won by the erstwhile champions have proved to be too narrow for these gentlemen. With their collective brilliance, they have dwarfed constraints and haven’t fretted going past the tennis heritage.

The big slams oscillate between these guys. Others playing the game are isolated to such an extent that they appear in the semis or the finals once in a while before they are forgotten.

Remember Andy Roddick? No? Lleyton Hewitt? Anyone?

Such is the norm that the names of these athletes simply get interchanged on the winners list each year.

These men driven by perfection and individual aspirations have pushed their bodies to unfathomable limits in search of greatness. It is complicated to unentangle ourselves the brand of tennis we are watching today. Their rivalry is so great that we have accepted that the greatest player to have played the game has to be amongst these three men.

The articulate discussions that experts indulge in are only about how these guys play and how they grappled to adapt.

Adaptation is another key thing that rivalry gives birth to.

The point is, while the destinies of these great players have intertwined, each is responsible for the success of the other. They inspire each other to take risks, to think out of the box, to overturn beliefs, to find a route when there seems to be none.

If Federer’s game is built around his smoking serves, Nadal has a sinewy body and wears down his opponents. Djokovic has built an all-round defensive game. In a way, they help each other refine their own game to burst myths, invent stories and play a pragmatic game.

 What’s in it for us?

As fans, we are attuned to applaud success of an astute athlete but we must put the hands together for the rival too. If a Bruno Fernandes skill puts a smile on your face, you should clap for De Bruyne too. If you love Kohli’s cover drive, a magical hook shot from Joe Root should be cheered too.

There can be arguments but the fact that they are inspiring each other is simply exhilarating.

 

 


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