I don’t think it’s restricted to team sports; I’ve seen that analysis before from sports psychologists.
However, it probably stings the most in team sports, where medals are awarded right after the gold medal match. I remember in one international competition (can’t remember if it was Olympics) where Canada lost the gold medal in hockey, one of the players said he didn’t want a silver medal, because you don’t get a silver medal for losing a competition.
It’s not so much team sports as any where there’s a one on one final - boxing and taekwondo, or the cycling pursuit, where there’s a gold/silver and a bronze medal match.
A lot seems to depend on where you expected to be, though. If you’re expecting a gold, silver is a failure, but if you’re expecting 5th, a bronze is amazing.
Having stumbled across https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gl34v4r98o this BBC article (long), which seems well researched, I apologise for my previous speculative post (albeit I maintain it wasn’t out of line for this forum). It appears Gunn qualified for the Games on merit, knew she would be outclassed in the more gymnastic areas by other competitors, and so tried something different. It didn’t come off, but it wasn’t intended as a protest or to devalue the event.
Wrong thread.
Interestingly, boxing does not have a bronze medal match. Both losers of the semifinals are given bronze medals. The reason is that the loser of a boxing match very likely was knocked out, and it’s dangerous to box again so soon.
See, that’s why I’ve been harping on social media so much. She was bad. Depending on how you look at it, it’s either embarrassing or funny. The selection process was shady. Someone lost out on 25K. None of this is anything new for the Olympics, or for that matter sports in general. There will be the usual embarrassed apologies, excuses, and blame shifting, and ultimately Australia will reexamine and fine-tune its qualifying procedures to…hopefully…prevent this from ever happening again. I don’t see why there needs to be a raging, blood-flecked, foaming-at-the-mouth witch hunt every time something stupid slips through the cracks. Sheesh, is anyone getting this worked up about the real problems in this world…global warming, fascism, wartime atrocities, wealth inequality, deadly diseases, resource depletion, and rampant social injustice, to name a few? Have a good laugh and move on with your life, geez.
As for the competition itself, this raises another important point. In any brand new event, there will be rules to iron out, loopholes to close, unfair advantages to take away, missteps to correct. Remember the early years of the UFC? Fighters giving out in seconds, getting their faces bloodied, landing in scary positions, and fence grabbing, so much fence grabbing, along with mishaps such as 3 culminating in a title match between an alternate who got inserted into a final and someone who got a free pass over Royce Gracie, and 11, which has no title match at all. Creating a well-oiled machine takes time. The idea that the Olympics would introduce a brand-new sport which was unlike anything it ever had before and it’d somehow go off without ANY hiccups whatsoever was somewhere between Pollyannaish and insane.
Hahh. 
I can’t believe that this is the story that the Paris Olympiad leaves behind. Do we really need an enemy? Is that just it?
Had this been an established Olympic sport, I assume the Australian sports authorities would have had good qualifying procedures but it wasn’t; it was just a one-off.
Isn’t that what happened in 1984 - the pool(s) used ended up becoming USC’s natatorium?
Keep in mind one small detail - in order for the pool to be useful to a university, its width has to be 25 yards, but that’s a bit narrow for an Olympic pool.
Why does a university pool need to be only 25 yards wide?
I know there used to be a rule where an amateur boxer that was knocked out, or had a match stopped because of head blows, had to wait about two weeks before boxing again.
On the other hand, judo has two bronze medal matches. There is a consolation bracket, but for whatever reason, the two finalists don’t fight each other.
Because all swimming competition at university level is in a 25-yard pool. The NCAA is not about to make every university in the country pretty much dig up its existing pools and have them build 25-meter ones. Yes, they did all dig up their 440-yard running tracks and replace them with 400-meter ones, but this is much easier to do.
Googling, an Olympic-size pool is supposed to be 25 meters/82 feet wide, so an Olympic-size pool would be roughly two meters too wide. That’s enough of an issue? I would think it would make sense to rationalize and standardize between NCAA and Olympic requirements.
Presently, the NCAA approves 25-yard and 25-meter pools as official competition, and provides a conversion standard from 25-meter to 25-yard times. No they aren’t, there are some schools that can swim in both meters and yards. A lot of the bigger schools have a 50 meter pool and they can put in a bulkhead to make it any distance they want.
That controversial Australian breakdancer has been good for this T-shirt and swag company’s business.
This video, which shows the last finisher in the women’s marathon and the audience’s reaction to her, popped up in my “suggested videos” feed on YouTube. This Bhutanese woman, who finished in just under 4 hours, is a true winner in her own right.
This video was the same as your previous link.
Here’s another link. Maybe this is the one you meant.
I’ve been mildly miffed that Australia’s breakdancer has besmirched the good name of Raygun T-shirts. I’ve had a few over the years, including one apologizing for Steve King, and just ordered one “I’m a Midwest 10,” though I feel like a couple Dopers could use the “Unfortunately I’m A White Sox Fan” shirt.
On another note, the Paralympics start in a week. NBC/Peacock will be showing at least some of the competition.
Oops! I should have looked a little closer before I hit the “post” button. Thanks!
Actually, I live in Raygun territory (and am actually wearing one of their shirts right now, an apolitical one) and they’re loving it.
Hahahaha
It took 12 years, but the woman who came in 6th at the 2012 London Olympics 1500 meter event is now getting the Bronze medal because so many people ahead of her have been disqualified due doping violations. I understand due process, but 12 years seems a bit long to test a blood sample.