And the winner is...

Since when is coming in third in the world devastating? Especially for a young woman who already proved her medal ascending to the top of the podium in the 2010 Olympics in the women’s mogul free style skiing event…

Hmmm…

This is why I was never a sports reporter. A bronze medal at the winter Olympics would never occur to me as the “second place loser” award. It would also never occur to me to exploit the athlete’s initial disappointment to tears on her local news station. I’m sure that momentary grief at ending her Olympic career with a bronze and not the gold she had hoped for is the last thing she wants to be remembered for. Thank goodness for the integrity of the national news that acknowledged she was disappointed, but spared the tears footage and gave her well deserved kudos. 

As did her fans at home like *Norwich Inn owner Joe Lavin who said, “for us Hannah’s a champion no matter what the color of the medal.”
          Sure, I was rooting for Hannah to do well. The free style skier raised in Norwich, Vermont is a junior at Dartmouth College where my daughter is a freshman. So was there something wrong with me because I was like, “good job Hannah!”? Bring that bronze you just won in Sochi home and hang it proudly right next to the gold medal you earned in Vancouver. You did an outstanding job just getting to the Olympics and now you get to represent your country on the podium today.
         Just before leaving for Russia Hannah described the mogul event as one that requires a strong acrobatic component, power, speed and agility but is “endlessly satisfying.”

“You only do it if you love it,” she said. I hope she is still feeling the love.

I guess the Olympics and competitive sports in general naturally bring out fierceness in competition, chest thumping egos and an aggressive drive to be first or nobody. That will always be disturbing to me.

Athletes with that kind of drive and determination are already winners in the confidence arena that fans and news stations driven by sensationalism should never devalue.

No one knows that better than two time Olympic moguls skiier Shannon Bahrke who took the silver medal in 2002 and bronze in 2010 while no doubt looking up at Kearney at the top of the podium.

Among the tidbits of advice for success the Olympic champion turned entrepreneur told Reuters last week is one that I think will ease Hannah’s pain, “don’t get so caught up with achieving the end goal that you disregard the journey. Trust me, when the goal has been achieved or not, it’s the journey you will tell the most stories about!” said Bahrke.

Recovering from a ski injury in 2007 Bahrke channeled her confidence in the direction of the business she founded with her husband, Silver Bean Coffee in Salt Lake City, Utah. Not only is their earth friendly coffee business a great success, they support a number of charities including the U.S. Olympic Ski Team that went to Sochi and my favorite, the Best Friends Blends that contribute $5 of the proceeds of every bag sold to the Best Friends Animal Society. Bahrke gets a gold medal from me for that initiative.

I’m sure there are lots more third place success stories, my personal favorite Nicholas David who rocked the 2012 season of the Voice. The multi-talented soulful and dynamic singer and

songwriter may have lacked the pop star looks and appeal to the youthful audience that drives the show but he was unmistakably the most talented performer I've seen on any of these reality television rocket to stardom shows. Nonetheless, that third place push launched the Minnesota based musician’s career across the country. He even turned up in Massachusetts last summer as the headliner at the 2013 Martha’s Vineyard Jazz and Blues Summerfest.
          Just curious, who are your third place heroes? I’d love to hear about them.

*Not sure if they have won any medals but if you are ever in Norwich, this is my favorite place to be.