"I was born with a gift, a gift that I've dedicated my life to cultivating, in hopes that one day I might compete at a level that would earn me a spot on the podium-specifically the level of the podium that, of the three, is the third highest. The margin that separates the golds and silvers from the bronzes is often measured in fractions of a point or hundredths of a second."
"Leading up to the Games, the math is equally unforgiving. If, for example, I'm on the path to silver and gold, I'm training for ten hours a day, and if I'm training for ten hours a day, I can't sleep in, smoke a bowl, and go see a matinee. Perks like these are reserved exclusively for those of us living the bronze lifestyle."
An athlete aims deliberately for an Olympic bronze medal and structures life around achieving third place. The pursuit involves relentless training, strict diet, and personal sacrifices that exclude leisurely activities reserved for higher-medal contenders. Family support reinforced the expectation of finishing third and influenced early aspirations and practical lessons about reachable goals. The athlete recognizes narrow margins between medal ranks and tailors daily routines to occupy the bronze sweet spot. Childhood drawings and color mixing symbolized early identification with bronze. The narrative blends commitment and constrained ambition to portray a career optimized for the specific outcome of third place.
Read at The New Yorker
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