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2012 Olympic Games and Team USA
Aug. 10th, 2012 09:25 amLooking at the medal count, Team USA is doing very well by all standards, but we didn't do so hot in any of the equestrian events. I've been trolling around the forums looking to see what others think about our non-medal performance, and it seems that those who think our performance was pretty poor are in the minority. Most folks seem to be saying that we gave it our best and that should be good enough.
I don't agree. I'm going to be a bit of a nationalist here because I think that is largely what the games are about--national pride. Yes, I am proud of those who *did* perform well in the equestrian events. Team Great Britain has been amazing and their dressage performance was inspirational to watch. I really couldn't be happier for them. Michael Jung's performance in eventing was also nothing short of phenomenal and he has really set a high bar for up-and-coming riders. What a role model to have in eventing! I didn't see very much of the showjumping, but I also think it's pretty awesome that Sweden turned out an individual silver medal and that Saudi Arabia earned a team bronze...who cares that they bought their horses? The powers that be in that country decided they wanted to bolster their show jumping program, and they went out there and did it. I'd say that's national pride working hard right there!
Back to Team USA. Did we give it our best? Did our athletes try their very hardest? I believe they did. Boyd's performance on XC was quite an opener, and KOC was a shining star for Team USA. We had some bad luck in eventing. Our dressage team had two not-so-experienced horses and one horse ready to retire. I think Ravel and Peters gave as good as a performance as the horse had left in him. I thought the freestyle was ridden very sympathetically and it was touching. I didn't see any of Team USA show jumping, so I cannot comment on how they performed.
However, our best was no where near good enough to medal. No, we can't medal in every event every time. But, we should be striving to be eligible for a medal. And I'm not entirely sure that was the case here. Or maybe we were, but everyone knew it wasn't a reality. After all, no one seems surprised that we didn't medal, Sports Illustrated didn't pick us to medal in any equestrian events, everyone seems to be saying that Europe has a far superior riding and breeding program...it all adds up to Team USA kicking the dirt from the sidelines.
This pervasive attitude that we gave it our best and we should be happy with that is not the mind set of a winner. I would be willing to bet money that every one of our Olympic athletes is *not* happy with the Team USA outcome in equestrian. They may publicly say we did our best, but I would bet that quietly, they thought they could do better.
And that's exactly how they need to think. Our eventing coach is about to change, and it sounds like that will be a very good thing. Certainly our international performance hasn't been all that great under Coach Phillips. I don't know what to think about our coaches for SJ or dressage, I don't follow those sports closely enough. But it seems that we need an overhaul in our approach and attitude in order to be competitive on the international level. We need more funds, better breeding programs, and more ways to challenge and shape our upcoming stars. Some people have said it's disappointing that we can't do more given the very large pool of competitors we have to choose from, but that's just it--America is so large, it makes it hard to fund all the people. And it's not cheap making a star! So what can we do? How do we up our game to compete with GB and the Germans? What is different now from the days when we were internationally competitive? How do we get it back, or better yet, usher in a new era that is sustainable in our current world? I'm not sure. But I think more people should be wondering this rather than just saying we were good enough. Clearly, we weren't.
I don't agree. I'm going to be a bit of a nationalist here because I think that is largely what the games are about--national pride. Yes, I am proud of those who *did* perform well in the equestrian events. Team Great Britain has been amazing and their dressage performance was inspirational to watch. I really couldn't be happier for them. Michael Jung's performance in eventing was also nothing short of phenomenal and he has really set a high bar for up-and-coming riders. What a role model to have in eventing! I didn't see very much of the showjumping, but I also think it's pretty awesome that Sweden turned out an individual silver medal and that Saudi Arabia earned a team bronze...who cares that they bought their horses? The powers that be in that country decided they wanted to bolster their show jumping program, and they went out there and did it. I'd say that's national pride working hard right there!
Back to Team USA. Did we give it our best? Did our athletes try their very hardest? I believe they did. Boyd's performance on XC was quite an opener, and KOC was a shining star for Team USA. We had some bad luck in eventing. Our dressage team had two not-so-experienced horses and one horse ready to retire. I think Ravel and Peters gave as good as a performance as the horse had left in him. I thought the freestyle was ridden very sympathetically and it was touching. I didn't see any of Team USA show jumping, so I cannot comment on how they performed.
However, our best was no where near good enough to medal. No, we can't medal in every event every time. But, we should be striving to be eligible for a medal. And I'm not entirely sure that was the case here. Or maybe we were, but everyone knew it wasn't a reality. After all, no one seems surprised that we didn't medal, Sports Illustrated didn't pick us to medal in any equestrian events, everyone seems to be saying that Europe has a far superior riding and breeding program...it all adds up to Team USA kicking the dirt from the sidelines.
This pervasive attitude that we gave it our best and we should be happy with that is not the mind set of a winner. I would be willing to bet money that every one of our Olympic athletes is *not* happy with the Team USA outcome in equestrian. They may publicly say we did our best, but I would bet that quietly, they thought they could do better.
And that's exactly how they need to think. Our eventing coach is about to change, and it sounds like that will be a very good thing. Certainly our international performance hasn't been all that great under Coach Phillips. I don't know what to think about our coaches for SJ or dressage, I don't follow those sports closely enough. But it seems that we need an overhaul in our approach and attitude in order to be competitive on the international level. We need more funds, better breeding programs, and more ways to challenge and shape our upcoming stars. Some people have said it's disappointing that we can't do more given the very large pool of competitors we have to choose from, but that's just it--America is so large, it makes it hard to fund all the people. And it's not cheap making a star! So what can we do? How do we up our game to compete with GB and the Germans? What is different now from the days when we were internationally competitive? How do we get it back, or better yet, usher in a new era that is sustainable in our current world? I'm not sure. But I think more people should be wondering this rather than just saying we were good enough. Clearly, we weren't.
