This installment of Makes and Misses was written by Jose R. San Miguel, and originally published in The TAKEOFF Magazine, December 2020.
In March 2020, the world as we knew it came to a grinding halt. No more school; gatherings with friends; no sports or New Balance Nationals; not even the Olympic Games.
But what happened to athletic dreams during the shutdown?
For some, track careers ended before they realized they had taken their last jump. Opportunities to earn a spot on a college team, vanished. Their will to win, crushed.
Others continued on. Yes, they were forced into a break due to the pandemic, but they found a way to put themselves first. They re-imagined ways to work out, and stayed hungry for success even though they could not jump. They refused to have their athletic careers be turned into a casualty of Covid.
And when the sport reemerged, these athletes returned to practice. They PR’ed in an abbreviated summer track schedule, and set themselves up for success in the 2020-21 season. Some seniors who needed a last minute mark to secure a collegiate position, got it done, because their determination was bigger than the tough luck of a missed season.
What was the difference?
The second group of athletes adjusted to the new new. Instead of complaining about what they lost, they complied with the regulations of social distancing and mask wearing, as mandated in many cities and states. They learned from what was taken away, and vowed to be prepared for the next time they had a shot at a bar.
The will to win for an athlete is a fundamental trait. It is not something that is teachable; it is something that is within us, but we must work to develop it. It is an individual’s choice to get up and try again until they overcome the hardship that took them down in the first place. Some choose to give up.
Adversity is not the athlete who competes against you. Adversity is your fears, your lack of conditioning, your limited experience, injuries, limited resources, your mindset. Adversity is something that everyone must conquer in order to win.
Winning means different things to every person. Earning the state championship title, or a college scholarship, or an Olympic medal – those are easy to claim as triumphs. But victories are also overpowering your fears; learning a new technique or skill; jumping on that big pole that you have dreaded; committing to train harder; trying again after going no height; or accepting that you are not perfect, but perfect enough to accomplish your own greatness, not just in athletics, but also in life.
Life is a lot like sports. We face hard times; we fail. How you handle those moments dictate who you become as a person. You can put yourself down and live stuck in the calamity. You can be complacent in winning the easy battles you choose to fight.
Or, you can come up with a plan to improve, and give it your best. That is it… give it your best! At that instant you decide to give it all you’ve got, you will have the confidence to fight back and chase the edge in everything you do.
Action cures fear. By doing the work, you minimize your troubles. By facing your fear, even if you “fail”, you win. The lessons learned in chasing the win will carry you through life’s darker days, something we all experience. Understand that there is always a tomorrow. Every situation will eventually pass. Giving up is never the answer. Try explaining to others that you gave up when life beat you down…not the best example to show your true character. Commit to see it through.
Shortly after my high school graduation, and while taking my last jump before the 1984 Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships, I landed in the pole vaulting box, head first. At that time there were no box collars. Luckily for me, I just shattered my right wrist. The surgeon told my family that I would never jump again, nor have full motion in my wrist as a result of the reconstructive surgery, but I would not have issues living a normal life.
What do you mean I would not jump again? I was heading to college on a full athletic scholarship. That was my first time facing a life changing hardship. Instead of giving up hope, I imagined a plan to recover, and pole vault again. I chose to fight back. I wanted one more win.
The journey was painful, but nine months from that day, against what appeared to be insurmountable odds, I won the university championships in Puerto Rico as an 18 year old freshman. That win opened my world to endless possibilities. A year later, I transferred to the University of Tennessee, where I enjoyed an awesome athletic career, met my wife, got a degree, and my first career job.
I often think about the days following my accident, and the decisions that I made. Imagine if I would have chosen to accept the medical prognosis, and quit pole vaulting? My life would have been very different. I am grateful for the will to fight. I have lived an awesome life as a result of the decision to persevere at that one moment in time.
Not a day goes by that I do not relive a moment from my days as an athlete in which I had to fight for my success. I seldom think of the actual win, but mostly of the fight that got me the victory. Those moments have helped me overcome the challenges I have faced in my life.
So much of what you do as an athlete will mirror what you do in life. Commit to your win, no matter what. In the process you will accomplish the most important greatness – your own, while inspiring others to do the same.
The next time you are staring down the runway for your third and final attempt, remember all of the work you have done to get there. Recall every extra rep of a drill you did when your coach was not watching; recognize every time you chose to stick to it another day; look back at the long journey and those who supported you along the way.
Don’t let fear take control and take you down. You have done the work and prepared yourself. Take that third attempt as if it is the last one in your life. No hesitation and no fear. This is your moment in time. If you seize it and fight, you have already won. Just take off.
