Senses working overtime #483

1 Listening: The Chills - Brave Words

The soundtrack for thousands of Kiwis these last few weeks has been albums by The Chills to remember Martin Phillipps. The three amigos have been playing and reviewing Brave Words.

My review is here.

 

2 Watching/ celebrating: Ellesse Andrews

She is an amazing athlete, yes, but she's also a very humble and joyful person. I love her post medal reactions.

3 Watching/ celebrating: Maddison Wesche

In the women's shot put final, Maddi won a silver medal, which was great, but it was her smiling reaction to the competition that was even greater. Big fan!

4 Watching: Martin Phillipps  

The documentary The Chills: The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps is on my purchase list. In the meantime this overall/interview is well worth your time. And this live performance on KEXP is just stunning!

5 Reading: Daily Stoic on the Olympics

As the Stoics would remind us, it’s not winning that counts. That there is sometimes another plane of greatness that an athlete can win—by the injury they overcome to finish, by the political gesture they make on the medal stand, by the way they treat a competitor. We tell the story of the Japanese equestrian Shunzo Kido in the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He was competing in the 22.5-mile, 50-obstacle race that he didn’t normally run after a teammate was injured and had to drop out.

Improbably, with no proper training for himself or his horse, Kido was in the lead, clear of the pack after jumping over the second-to-last obstacle. But what Kido did next was even more improbable. He pulled up the reins and dropped out of the race. Out of nowhere, he gave up the chance of gold and glory for himself and his country.

Why?

He could feel the horse struggling and sensed that even just a few more seconds at full speed would kill the horse as it crossed the finish line. As the plaque on the Friendship Bridge along the Mount Rubidoux Trail commemorating his unprecedented display of sportsmanship reads, “Lt. Col. Shunzo Kido turned aside from the prize to save his horse. He heard the low voice of mercy, not the loud acclaim of glory.”

Overtime: (A pre Olympics) Ellesse Andrews

“Now I have a bit more experience behind me and it’s a cooler place to be coming from. I’m a different person now than I was at the last Olympics, and that’s just from having more experience and growing up a little bit.”