We have a peculiar relationship with water.
While it forms more than 70% of the earth
and about 60% of our body, we almost always look down upon it.
This is more so in sports and in adventure.
Somehow, in our evolution, we have put a
premium on what happens above the ground.
We can reel out the names of the most
famous airplanes, their models, we know the logos of the best cars and the
bikes, but, we hardly know anything about the things that take us over the
waters.
We romanticize the kamikaze pilots,
eulogize the army commanders, but hardly know about the naval exploits.
We know the first man to land on the moon,
the first man to climb Mount Everest, but do we know the first man to reach the
Mariana Trench, the deepest know point on earth?
Is it because we can only celebrate what we
see?
Sports is closest to real life adventure.
Here is where, man pits himself again man and pits himself against nature,
trying to best the elements, stretch the limits of the impossible.
To a great extent, our lionizing of
sportsmen mirrors the way we lionize the adventurists. The visible exploits get far greater
recognition than the sports that are not visible.
And, Michael Phelps enters the equation
here.
To write about his exploits would take a
few tomes, but a few statistics showcase the enormity of his achievements.
If Phelps were a country, of the 205
countries that are participating in the 2016 Olympics, he would stand at number
33, meaning only 32 countries have won more GOLD Medals than him in the last
120 years of Olympics, Summer and Winter Olympics together. One man Phelps has won more Gold medals than
countries like Argentina, Egypt, India have ever won in the history of
Olympics.
Not just that, between his first gold medal
that he won in 2004 and now, he has aged by 12 years and won 23 Gold medals
between them, making him unique in a world of super achieving sportsmen and
women.
Not many greats, including Federer, Jordan and
Ronaldo have this kind of record, spread over so many years.
Add all the superlatives of the English
language – Astonishing, astounding, amazing, brilliant, fantastic… they still
cannot do justice to the greatness that Phelps is.
But, why is he NOT the most celebrated
athlete of the world?
The Laureus World Sports Awards, started in
1999, are almost like the Oscars or the Noble Prize of sports.
Between 2000 and 2016, the award has gone
to Tiger woods twice, Roger Federer four times, Usain Bolt twice and Michael
Schumacher twice. Michael Pheps who has achieved much more than many of these
athletes has not been crowned the best sportsperson of the year, even once!
The world of endorsements reflect this grim
reality even more starkly. Phelps does
not feature among the top 15 earners of the year in 2015 (source Forbes, August
21, 2015 issue).
Ahead of him are Federer, Woods, Messi and
Neymar – the last two don’t have any trophy to show for their country!
Perhaps, this has got to do with the sport
that Phelps participates in.
A sport is as much about the tactics as
about the emotions linked with it.
Every goal scored by Messi springs about a
millon emotions, his languid run, his dexterous dribbling, the feigning of the
pass, the free kick – almost every thing that Messi does can be written about.
When Usain Bolt runs, we can see how every
sinew of his muscle moves, how quickly he springs off the starting blocks, how
disdainfully he tramples the opposition, how nonchalantly he sees off the
silver winner.
When Federer plays, it is poetry in motion,
The Whip of the Maestro, the incredible angles that only he can concoct, the
supple wrists all make for great prose, poetry and endorsements.
Swimming, unfortunately does not lend
itself to a show of emotions. Masked by the glasses, the head covered by a cap
and almost all emotions shut off from the world, it is difficult for the viewer
to get emotionally connected to the player.
Tragically, cameras and commentators have
not done justice to the skills that make Phelps the legend he is. For too long,
the emotions have been shut from the audience, masking the connect that makes a
legend out of a sportsman.
Considering how short term our memories
are, a few months after the Olympics are over, we will start drooling over the
Cover Drives of Virat, the Free kicks of Pogba, the tenacity of Djokovic.
In the bargain, we will forget the sheer greatness
that was displayed a few feet under not so very long ago.
In Olympics 2016, Phelps has reminded us
again to take note of what lies beneath.
It will be our loss if we miss the
greatness due to our shortsightedness.
#Phelps #Olympics2016
