Ronda Rousey’s biography “My fight / your fight” is an inspiring and interesting read. (If you don’t know who Ronda is, this Youtube video give you a quick impression of her ability inside the ring).
The book talks about her journey from judo into MMA, her traumatic childhood, the financial toll of training & competing. She was even homeless at one point, losing herself for a whole year after a couple of Olympics, worked multiple jobs to make ends meet, working through injuries and much more. The fact is that she persevere and is now the top women in UFC – she does not just win, she kick ass. She is on the top because she worked harder than anyone else.
What makes her book special is that Ronda not only talks about the amount of hardwork it takes to get to the top, she shared with her readers the dark side as well. For example, how the politics and lack of support (USA Judo Federation at the time) makes it tough for anyone to succeed, how she struggled through eating disorders to make weight (because of weight division), how she has to work to earn respect from her trainers to even take the time to train a female MMA fighter.
Her book also triggered me to google for Olympians that committed suicide over the years and there are quite of few of them ( website). The support/attention/focus to get to the top is usually there. However, when you stop competing, everything comes to an abrupt stop – funding, emotional support, your daily routine and more. The search for a new focus is not easy for many, the re-appearing of pre-existing challenges (financial, relationships, etc) all comes back and without proper support and counselling, we are basically leaving our ‘heroes’ out to dry – very similar to the lack of planning for soldiers coming home.
Most sport organizations refuses to talk about the challenges they face because it can potentially be embarassing and deemed ‘bad publicity’ or afraid that such discussions ‘may scare people away from their sport’. So it takes high profile athletes like Ronda Rousey, Clara Hughes and many more to bring some of these issues to the forefront. Having a strategy supported and funded is just as important as “the drive to reach higher”, in gymnastics, we call that “soft landing”. Right now, the focus is only on “jumping high” with absolutely little help on its landing is hazardous to the athletes.
Exercise
Whether it is sport, academics, work or investments, don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. Going up is great but be prepared for the landing.
There are folks that view “Winning the silver” is like “Losing the gold”. There are also people that think that talking sportmanship, “enjoy the experience” are all “losers” talk. What is your view on that? Discuss.