The Sochi Olympics are now completed. While there were some surprise triumphs for Team USA, there were many more disappointments. In some sports like speedskating, the combination of intensive preparation and high-tech skinsuits were supposed to give our athletes an edge. Headed into the Olympics, they were expected to win eight medals. They ended up winning none.
In sports, nothing is guaranteed. Even the biggest favorites sometimes stumble in the heat of competition. Paired against others who are also giving the full measure of their devotion, sometimes even our best effort cannot guarantee success.
I can think of at least five different situations where the US teams or athletes ended up in fourth place. Most heartbreaking to me was the luger who missed out on a bronze medal by .04 seconds! That is less than half a blink of an eye!
I often wonder if time will allow some of these individuals to look more favorably on their experiences. While they may not have won a medal, they did achieve remarkable results. Ending as the fourth best in the world at anything is no small feat! It's a cliché to say that there is honor in competition, but there is much truth in those words.
As we continue to work to compete against others in our own field, I can see that it takes a similar amount of dedication and effort in order to prevail. While medical devices may not have the certainty of results that you see in sports, there are definite differences in the success we can achieve depending on our strategies and execution.
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