What is the first rule of sportsclub?
Yep, that's right. Don't celebrate until the final whistle has blown. Don't assume you've done enough until you have crossed that white line. Never give your opponent even a sniff of arrogance - this may be the very thing that wills them on to come back from the dead and rub your face in it when they prevail.
It looks like nobody told poor old French Pentathlete Prades Valentin last week in the final of the World Modern Pentathlon Championships about this important rule of sportsclub. He is my nomination this week for @pete's "Happy Moanday!" contest. Read on to see why he has every reason to moan.
Having endured a mammoth 200m swim, 35 fencing bouts, a round of show jumping, four laser shooting series and four 800m runs in the heat of Mexico City, he was facing into the last 100 metres of the pentathlon, when he passed the leader at that time Pavlo Tymoshchenko, who had clearly run out of gas. Victory would surely be his, then with 50 metres to go, he did the unthinkable! He threw his hands up in the air to celebrate his imminent win.
Prades, Prades, Prades, why of why did you do it!
This did not please the sporting gods!
Nope, it didn't please them one little bit. So to teach the Frenchman a lesson, they decided to unleash a second wind upon the Englishman Jamie Cooke, who at this stage was languishing in 3rd place wondering where it all went wrong.
Suddenly, Jamie found strength in his weary legs, and he took off like a Gazelle, saying, not today Mr Lion, not today. Today, I will be a Modern Pentathlon champion! And so it was.
There are times when pictures and videos are not enough, and we must use prosaic dramatic language to describe every little minute detail of an unfolding sporting event, but this isn't one of them :o)
In this case the video will do just fine, with a small helping of commentary from my good self! Have a look at the video below starting around 37:29 to see the drama unfold before your very eyes.
Valentine can hardly believe it as he crumples across the line and falls to his knees without an ounce of energy left, Cooke on the other hand comes through like a freight train and looks as though he could do another lap or twelve!
The margin in the end was a minuscule 0.03 seconds, so the energy expended in raising his arm coming around that corner may have used those extra few joules that would have seen him through.
Just look at Cooke's face as he makes it over the line, sheer delight and it turns out his Grandad had died just days previously and he dedicated the win to him, which was a lovely touch.
"I've worked so hard for this. I was really struggling on that last lap and unfortunately my grandad died last week so that was for him."
Cruel as it was, there is a good lesson for all aspiring sports people and established athletes alike. Never assume you have enough done and take your foot off the gas. Always play until the bitter end. You may get away with complacency once or twice, but eventually it'll bite you in the ass like poor old Prades found out above.
Such is sport and how many times have we seen it; when people mount the most unexpected of comebacks when they looked to be out on their feet.
Why not have a go yourself
I would highly recommend anyone starting out here on Scorum, as well as established posters to take part in @pete's great contest which will help you to get noticed here on the platform. The post can be found here https://scorum.com/en-us/other/@pete/welcome-to-happy-moanday
A parting word from a true wordsmith
I leave you with some choice words from my fellow Irishman Samuel Beckett:
"Try again. Fail again. Fail better."
As always thanks so much for reading, I really appreciate you taking the time.
Peace Out
Comments