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Business News/ Sports / Olympics-news/  Rio Olympics: Spare a thought for the also-rans
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Rio Olympics: Spare a thought for the also-rans

A blink of an eye takes one third of a second. These are differences that only machines can calculate, but a nano-second gap can separate a winner from a loser

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt celebrates after winning the gold in men’s 200-metre final at the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday night. Photo: PTIPremium
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt celebrates after winning the gold in men’s 200-metre final at the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday night. Photo: PTI

Sports, like war, is a particularly brutal way to win glory. And at the end of the 200 metres men’s final on Thursday night the sheer brutality of Olympic competition was made plain to all who endeavoured to look beyond Usain Bolt’s triumph.

Behind Bolt and behind the exciting talent that is Canada’s Andre De Grasse, three athletes experienced a shredding of the soul that lasted just a few moments. But will leave them deeply changed, even scarred, for life.

As Bolt accelerated to the finish line, behind him there was an almighty battle for the lesser medals. As De Grasse slotted into second place, three athletes strained every sinew for that bronze.

A bronze medal is a funny thing. While nations like India, drip-fed on a laser-thin stream of sporting success, celebrate bronze medals with great national celebrations, for many athletes it is perhaps a supremely solitary satisfaction. At least, perhaps they think as they stand on the podium, they will not go home empty-handed. They will not go back the noble tourist who tried and tried. They will not go back to homes with shelves full of wonky trophies and tarnished medals that have lost a tiny bit of their meaning. If the gold signifies supremacy, and the silver a minutely, often temporarily, scarred greatness, then bronze is more often than not a testament to grit and resolve. Maybe this is why bronze medallists appear uniformly thrilled on podiums. From Sakshi Malik to Ivana Španović to the heart-melting pairing of Hedaya Wahba and Kimia Zenoorin, bronze medallists have been some of the happiest athletes at these Olympics. The look on their faces is of something greater than triumph—it is of vindication.

Also read: Rio Olympics: Usain Bolt wins third successive 200m gold

And thus behind Bolt three men strode for that relief. For that bronze. Adam Gemili is the 22-year old Briton who surely must go on to greater things. Last July he ran his first sub-10 second 100m, thus becoming the 100th man to do so. But as he ended that race he fell and injured his hamstring. Above all Gemili seems like a nice guy. When the camera pans in front of him before the race he smiles with a beguiling shyness.

The 26-year old Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre is—and there is really no other way to put this—the fastest ‘white man’ in the world. Which, therefore, also means that he has found sprinting success at the Olympic level hard to come by. But Lemaitre does have a bronze from the London Olympics. One suspects, however, that Lemaitre does not hold that prize in high regard. France had originally finished fifth in that race. But two disqualifications followed. Canada’s third place finish was annulled when one of the runners stepped out of their lanes. And the US were disqualified much later after Tyson Gay was suspended for doping. Last year Lemaitre and his French compatriots were handed the bronzes. A medal is a medal is a medal but is it really? Lemaitre surely wanted to win one ‘properly’.

And then there was Churandi Martina. Oh poor, unlucky Churandi Martina. The 32-year old’s name will not be unfamiliar to athletics fans. He has been around for ages without, like Lemaitre, cornering Olympic glory. Eight years ago in Beijing, almost to the day he was running in Rio, Martina was a silver medallist albeit for a few minutes. He finished second behind Usain Bolt but was later disqualified for running outside his lane. Acrimony followed after Martina’s Netherlands Antilles lodged an appeal against the disqualification. The appeal was rejected. Some time later the American who was re-allocated Martina’s silver, Shawn Crawford, apparently handed his medal back to Martina. Details of this are sketchy. But regardless Churandi Martina, like Lemaitre, must have ached to win a medal outright.

As Bolt raced towards the finish line, behind him Gemili, Lemaitre and Martina ran and ran. For a few moments it looked like Gemili had timed a final burst of speed perfectly. Lemaitre was accelerating too. And then the runners exploded over the line. Surely, surely Gemili had won? His body language seemed to suggest he had. And then he looked up at the board. Lemaitre threw his arms up into the air. Martina sank.

Also read: Rio Olympics: What Census data tells us about Sakshi Malik’s village

Christophe Lemaitre, Adam Gemili and Churandy Martina were separated by a 100th of a second. Lemaitre and Gemili were separated by thousandths of a second. A blink of an eye takes one third of a second. These were differences that only machines could calculate. But they were differences that would crush human beings.

Lemaitre celebrated the bronze like a gold medal. Gemili was devastated. What could he do? He is 22. In Tokyo, he will be 26. But who knew what colossus of sprinting would emerge from Bolt’s shadows by then? Would he get another chance? As for Churandi Martina, surely there isn’t much left in the Dutchman’s tanks?

After the race Bolt kept going. Even Bolt—Usain Bolt—looked shattered by the effort. But he kept running, kept going, kept smiling and posing and speaking into the cameras. Runners must run and entertainers must entertain. Behind Bolt and De Grasse, three men staggered away. One in rapture and two with unfulfilled dreams and unexorcised demons.

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Published: 19 Aug 2016, 04:41 PM IST
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