Bronte Campbell column: A guide how to celebrate the ‘loser’ in Olympic sport

Why are teams like the Raiders celebrated for their fighting spirit when they just miss out on success, yet Olympians are shunned for missing a medal by hundredths of a second? Read swim star Bronte Campbell’s debut Courier-Mail column.

LIKE most Australians I look forward to the last few weeks of September when teams really start fighting, when seasons come together, when dreams are made and broken.

Add the Rugby World Cup and everyone’s new favourite team the Brave Blossoms, and you’ve got a pretty great excuse to head down to the pub or stay glued to the TV all day.

Like most Australians I’ve ridden the rollercoaster the past few weeks and enjoyed it thoroughly.

However, unlike most Australians, what has struck me the most has been in the conversations being had, in lounge rooms, in pubs and in the media about the ‘loser’. The team that didn’t quite make it.

Olympic swimming star Bronte Campbell has joined The Courier-Mail as a guest columnist.

The Raiders. Weren’t they incredible. Such control, discipline and fight. And if it hadn’t been for a trainer and referee who knows what could have happened.

The Wallabies. Embarrassing, tough loss to Wales. But how was that comeback, for a second there we nearly had them. That late spark didn’t get us over the line, but at least we fought.

The Giants. Well that was hard to watch, but they were doing well just to be there. What an achievement to be in a grand final.

Trawling through newspapers, listening to my mates talk about matches, it struck me how balanced the views were.

How much we appreciated the spectacle. How it wasn’t only the winners who had earned respect, or who ended up in newspaper columns. The ‘loser’ was celebrated too.

I counted three articles in Tuesday’s paper about the Raiders. There were five about the Roosters.

The Roosters celebrate as Canberra’s Josh Papalii endures the pain of grand final defeat.

And it struck me because it’s something you rarely see in Olympic sport.

How many times do you read a positive article about the athlete who fell short? In the Olympics it feels like it’s ‘go gold or go home’.

The appreciation of effort that I’ve seen celebrated in the past few weeks, is not something I’ve experienced in my Olympic career.

Add to this the win/lose margins of Olympic sport and you’re staring at something that resembles a double standard.

In my 50m freestyle final at the last Olympics, the margin between first and sixth place was 0.12.

Canberra Raiders players Joseph Leilua dejected after losing to the Sydney Roosters in the 2019 NRL Grand Final at ANZ Stadium. Picture. Phil Hillyard

That is the average time that the eyelid covers the pupil while blinking. The difference between winning and ‘not trying hard enough’ was a literal blink of an eye.

And I know it’s because people care. It’s because Australian’s passionately care about sport, because they feel as much pride in watching the green and gold as I do in wearing it.

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And I’m not asking the public to celebrate mediocrity, or ignore disappointment.

But when you watch the Olympics next year picture a kid who had a dream.

One who is chasing achievement and perfection (with often little or no financial incentives). One who has poured at least the past four years of training and sacrifice into a two minute race or one single jump, throw or match.

There’s something to be learned from the winner.

But if we only pay attention to the winner we are missing half the story. We have a lot to learn from success, but arguably more from falling short.

It’s in celebrating the ‘loser’ that we get the real picture.