# An Olympic Silver Medal is not a win?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 20, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-olympic-silver-medal-is-not-a-win/632076 "2012-08-20T17:42:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-olympic-silver-medal-is-not-a-win/632076/41 "2012-08-22T07:14:24Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > As I once said to a friend who was very gloomy when Finland had finished second in ice hockey, “You have to admit that it is much more glorious to win the bronze medal, like Sweden did, than to lose the gold, like Finland did”. I think it also depends on whether you occupied first place for a while (and how long). Obviously, it differs from person to person, but I reckon coming straight into bronze position near the end of a contest is going to feel different from holding first place for a while, then being knocked down to bronze afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-olympic-silver-medal-is-not-a-win/632076/42 "2012-08-22T11:25:25Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > She takes after her mother and her grandfather. this was my thought as well. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-olympic-silver-medal-is-not-a-win/632076/43 "2012-08-22T11:45:32Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Yep. You beat everyone else that came in behind you. Looking at it in any other way is disrespectful to yourself and all the other competitors, and shows a really sorry sense of self-worth. EVERYONE beat everyone that came in behind them. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-olympic-silver-medal-is-not-a-win/632076/44 "2012-08-22T13:42:34Z")
> [@purple\_cow](#): > > As they say, second place = first loser. Until the werewolves come. Then, silver medalists are WINNERS. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-olympic-silver-medal-is-not-a-win/632076/45 "2012-08-22T17:01:45Z")
Tell Roy Jones Jr., the remaining members of the 1972 USA men’s basketball team, Jamie Salé and David Pelletier (Canadian figure skating couple “robbed” in 2000 by a French judge, then later given a gold), and Sylvie Fréchette (Canadian synchronized swimmer “given” a gold after a controversy concerning the judging) how “important” or “meaningful” a silver medal is. Zara is correct; an “Olympic win” and an “Olympic _medal_ win” are two different things. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-olympic-silver-medal-is-not-a-win/632076/46 "2012-08-22T18:38:05Z")
If I competed in something where I came in second, and somebody congratulated me on my “win,” my instinct would be to correct them too. I would assume they must have heard wrong, and thought I won when I was really only a runner-up. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-olympic-silver-medal-is-not-a-win/632076/47 "2012-08-22T21:36:13Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > If I competed in something where I came in second, and somebody congratulated me on my “win,” my instinct would be to correct them too. I would assume they must have heard wrong, and thought I won when I was really only a runner-up. …and I might feel a bit annoyed at having to correct a reporter about it, too. I would wonder why they didn’t know who actually won. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-olympic-silver-medal-is-not-a-win/632076/48 "2012-08-25T18:50:36Z")
It doesn’t matter if she’s correct or not. “Get your facts straight” is a rude thing to say. Being right does not make what you say not rude. And this idea that it’s not rude because she’s recognizing the true winner? How in the world does that make it not rude to the reporter, you know, the person she’s actually talking to? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-olympic-silver-medal-is-not-a-win/632076/49 "2012-08-25T19:48:12Z")
A silver medal is winning the same way winning a 100 bucks in the lottery is winning. Yes, you won something but you did not win the lottery. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-olympic-silver-medal-is-not-a-win/632076/50 "2012-08-25T20:09:11Z")
No “steak knives” references yet? Tsk. ---
**Author:** ![Dublin11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Dublin11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dublin11)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-olympic-silver-medal-is-not-a-win/632076/51 "2012-08-25T20:20:42Z")
That’s a very strange article. All about the new yacht her mother’s got, then one paragraph to say that Zara was grumpy. Wonder if the journalist has some sort of history with Mrs Tindall. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-olympic-silver-medal-is-not-a-win/632076.md?page=2)