By Otomewo Oritsejolomi
It is inconceivable that Naomi Osaka would decide to share a Grand slam title with Serena Williams or that Cristiano Ronaldo would allow Messi to partake in the glory of a Ballon d’ or with him.
Sports thrives on competition, that innate desire to outdo your opponent and be the best, the thrill of victory as the fans scream your name in delight. Many athletes never experience this euphoric feeling and the few who do, never want to share it with another person. This was why the world was shocked when for the first time in the history of the Olympics two athletes decided to share
a gold medal.
The contest between Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy for who would win gold in the Olympics men’s high jump event was at a stalemate. The two athletes from Quatar and Italy were yet to miss an attempt. Then the bar was raised to 2.39 metres and none of them could beat it. An Olympic official came to tell them that there’d be a jump off to determine who would win the gold medal.
Then Barshim asked “Can we have two golds?”
“It’s possible.” The official replied.
Then the two olympians flew into each other’s arms in jubilation. They had just won gold.
This great show of sportsmanship from Barshim won him not just an Olympic gold medal but the love and admiration of millions of fans globally, and raised questions about the do or die nature of sports.
Most sports are structured in a winner takes all manner, the performance rewards ranging from outsized prize money running into millions of dollars to brand and sponsorship deals and media coverage are usually allocated to the winner and the other contestants are left to fade into obscurity. This creates problems as athletes are known to cut corners, cheat and engage in unsavoury practises due to the pressure to taste victory. And the benefits of sporting competitions such as promoting peace and unity among people, friendship and fellowship between athletes is lost.
What if we reformed our sporting culture so that it is no longer a do or die affair? What if the spoils of victory were divided more equally, and priority was placed on good sportsmanship above competition? So that sports could be enjoyed for it’s own sake, in fairness and fellowship with your competitors, not just for the insane rush to defeat your opponent. And what if space was created at the top for more than one winner and as Tamberi of Italy and Barshim of Qatar have shown us, this is not an entirely farfetched idea.
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