Lessons in pressure

So often in skating, or any Olympic performance really, the participant is a ball of stress and it shows. Not Liu.

And it apparently took her leaving the sport a few years back to make her realize she wanted to come back, and enjoy it. Cross-reference Liu’s performance with that of Ilia Malinin, who struggled with the pressure and finished eighth in men’s singles ice skating. Though all eyes were on him, and he was heavily favored, the errors and falls piled up. Granted, after the performance, he didn’t hide and explained his disappointing performance in a professional and graceful manner. At the gala, his final skate seemed to refer to the pressure and attention, and revealed a catharsis for him.

Two performances, two ways of dealing with the pressure, both handled well. But it brings up the issue of pressure. Simon Biles and the twisties during the 2020 Olympics. Coco Gauff and her long bouts of depression and battles with anxiety. Having recently read the Andre Agassi book, “Open,” it is clear he had issues with pressure as well. Some may say it comes with the territory, that to compete at the highest level you have to manage all that comes with it. Pressure, attention, questions, demands. Many athletes, especially Olympic athletes, are young, sometimes children, and are often pushed into sports early because they show promise or their parents decide their specialty early. It’s a recipe for success, but also for mental crisis and many athletes suffer silently through hours, days, weeks, months and years of pressure, hard work, determination and attention. Some handle it better than others, but it must have a deleterious effect on many. And for the most part, that effect was kept away from the spotlight. Discussion of pressure is healthy because it’s real, and people handle it differently. We place a lot of pressure on our youth when it comes to academics and sports. At times, school seems to be a contact sport with the only victory being tied to landing a spot at a top tier college or a full-ride scholarship. There has got to be a different way.

Dealing with pressure is what makes high-level athletes high level, and many deal with it just fine. But talking about ways to cope with pressure at any level is a good thing. With Liu, it helps that she is ridiculously talented, but her joy in the performance translated to victory. The message there can be to simply enjoy the ride and be yourself. And that’s never a bad thing.

We watch the Olympics for all different reasons. The performances are amazing, and interesting. There is drama. There is, as Jim McKay said, “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” We can root for our countrymen and countrywomen, but also see how other athletes do, and how they compete and work with one another. There are lessons in sport.

Dreams in the young are launched by watching the Olympics and we can all think of how to be better versions of ourselves. If Liu is to be an example, it’s that it’s great to be great but also great to be yourself and to enjoy life too. And that’s a pretty good lesson for all. I’d like to see Malinin get there too.

Now let’s see about Oakland throwing Liu a parade, shall we?

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A few weeks back, I wrote some history about San Mateo’s Williams family, focusing on Noah Williams and his son Les. I neglected to mention another member of the family, Archie, a cousin to Les. He was a 1935 graduate of College of San Mateo. He was also a Tuskegee Airman in World War II after graduating from the university of California, Berkeley. After the war, he was in the Air Force and became a high school teacher. Thanks to Dave Mandelkern, former trustee of the San Mateo County Community College District, for pointing this out and for providing additional information.

Most notably, however, Archie Williams was the gold medalist in the 400 meter run in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin where Jesse Owens got all the attention for his four fold medals. Archie recounted that, “Hitler didn’t shake my hand either.”

Talk about dealing with pressure.