鈥楤ittersweet鈥�: Olympians reflect on the motivation of fourth-place finishes
| Bormio and Livigno, Italy
Ahead of his second Olympics in Bormio, Norwegian skier Atle Lie McGrath said he would channel the advice of his coach, Kjetil Andr茅 Aamodt, a Norwegian skiing legend who won eight Olympic medals. Mr. Aamodt told him, 鈥淣o one cares if you finish fourth.鈥�
Ouch.
But, in many ways, it鈥檚 true.
Why We Wrote This
For some, missing the Winter Olympics podium by a blink of an eye can be an athlete鈥檚 biggest disappointment. For others, however, the 鈥渢in medal鈥� is all the motivation they need to do better next time.
The Olympic Games, of course, has more losers than winners. That鈥檚 part of what makes the elusive victory taste so syrupy sweet. But there is one loss that hurts more than the others: fourth place. Otherwise known as the 鈥渢in medal.鈥�
鈥淥nly three girls are really happy after the race, and the rest are not happy. And especially the fourth place,鈥� says German biathlete Franziska Preuss after her teammate, Vanessa Voigt, placed fourth in the women鈥檚 15-kilometer individual event. She knows the feeling well. Ms. Preuss just missed the podium at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. 鈥淚t is really bittersweet, but one person will be fourth.鈥�
Yes, one person has to be fourth. But at the Olympic Games, the difference between a victory jump on the podium with a shiny new bronze medal keepsake and fourth place can be determined by less than one point or a fraction of a fraction of a second, measurements of time and space that boggle the mind and require high-tech sensors to detect.
That fraction of a second, often faster than the blink of an eye and comparable to the beat of a hummingbird鈥檚 wing, is also the difference between having your name marked down in the Olympic history books and, well, not.
鈥淚鈥檓 not angry with myself, I鈥檓 not disappointed, but I鈥檓 just 鈥� it鈥檚 just a tough place to be, fourth,鈥� says British freestyle skier Kirsty Muir through tears last week, after her best slopestyle run of 76.05 was bested by Canadian skier Megan Oldham鈥檚 score of 76.46 to earn the bronze. Ms. Muir says she鈥檚 unsure what that difference of less than half a point equates to. A landing? A hand grab? She has no idea. 鈥淥bviously, I really did want to be on that podium,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut I鈥檓 gonna try and take the positives I can from this.鈥�
鈥淭he positives鈥� can be difficult to see immediately through tear-fogged ski goggles as the victory music plays and the medal ceremony podium gets assembled for others. But many Olympians find that perspective later, away from the lights and podiums, and sometimes success follows.
Ms. Preuss, the German biathlete, went on to win a bronze medal at the 2022 Winter Games and another bronze this year. Ms. Oldham, the Canadian freestyle skier who bested Ms. Muir, tells reporters after winning the bronze here in Livigno that she has been 鈥渟eeking redemption鈥� since the 2022 Beijing Olympics, when she came in 鈥� you guessed it 鈥� fourth in the big air competition.
That鈥檚 the thing about fourth place. It can be uniquely heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time.
Ahead of his bronze medal win in the men鈥檚 slopestyle competition, New Zealand skier Luca Harrington credited a fourth-place finish (calling it 鈥渘ot a nice position鈥�) at a December 2024 World Cup competition as a turning point in his career. 鈥淭hat really lit a bit of a fire under me and gave me that hunger to want to go and get on that podium,鈥� he says.
After U.S. skier Jacqueline Wiles missed the podium in the women鈥檚 downhill skiing event by 0.27 seconds, U.S. skier Paula Moltzan knew that her teammate would use 鈥渢he worst position to get at the Olympics鈥� to 鈥渇uel her fire.鈥� And she did. Two days later, the two women were paired together for the team combined event and won the bronze medal.
Not every tin medal comes with a full redemption story, of course.
Mr. McGrath, the Norwegian skier, placed fifth in the giant slalom, and then didn鈥檛 finish the second run in the slalom event after skiing over a gate.
With one lap to go in the 1,000-meter short-track speed-skating final in Beijing in 2022, American skater Kristen Santos-Griswold, who had been in medal position for much of the race, was taken out by another skater. After 鈥渕issing the podium by one spot,鈥� Ms. Santos-Griswald had to step back and decide whether she could handle that kind of heartbreak again.
But after talking with coaches and teammates, Ms. Santos-Griswald says she worked to figure out how she can be happy 鈥渘o matter how I skate.鈥� Just this year, she finally had the courage to watch the video of that heartbreaking lap. She had been too content to settle for the bronze medal, Ms. Santos-Griswald realized, rather than racing for the gold medal. So, this year, she decided she would do things differently. She finished third in the quarterfinal, however, which wasn鈥檛 enough to advance.
鈥淚 definitely am hoping for [a medal],鈥� at these Games or a future one, she told reporters after her race. 鈥淎ll I鈥檓 trying to focus on is the effort that I put in and how hard I try, and I鈥檝e gone into every race giving it my all.鈥�
U.S. speedskater Brittany Bowe knows what it鈥檚 like to nudge someone else off the podium, earning two bronze medals in her career: one in the team pursuit at Pyeongchang in 2018, and one in the 1,000 meters in Beijing when she edged out her fourth-place competitor by one-tenth of a second. Last week, she missed her third bronze when she placed fourth for the first time in the 1,000 meters by a 0.6 seconds. It was 鈥渙bviously tough,鈥� she says, describing the result as 鈥渢he toughest position in the Olympic Games.鈥�
Still, Ms. Bowe expressed a genuine pride in being a 鈥渃ontender鈥� in a field of skaters that saw the Olympic record broken, especially at almost 38 years old in her fourth and final Games. And having her family in the stands this year brought her 鈥渕ore joy鈥� than winning the bronze four years ago alone, because of pandemic restrictions on spectators.
In the men鈥檚 figure skating final, which saw an evening of unbelieve upsets, Korean skater Cha Jun-hwan was 鈥減roud鈥� to be one point behind the bronze medal (it was actually less than one point, with a score of 273.92 to Shun Sato of Japan鈥檚 274.90) because he says he 鈥渞eally tried my best鈥� and has 鈥渘o regrets.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 one higher than my previous Olympics in Beijing,鈥� he told reporters of the previous Games, where he finished fifth.
Finding time to pause, regroup, and then push on is the recurring theme in the stories of those who miss the podium.
After letting herself 鈥減rocess鈥� the slopestyle fourth-place finish, which included some time off the snow playing Nintendo, Britain's聽Ms. Muir said she was ready to focus on the big air competition. After posting one of the top qualifying scores in big air, Ms. Muir looked like she might finally get her medal after landing her first two of three runs. But then, ahead of the third run, Ms. Muir was bumped out of medal contention.
She finished fourth. Again.
鈥淚 put it all on the line in the third jump, I went for it, and I can鈥檛 be mad about that,鈥� she says. And while it鈥檚 鈥渁 bittersweet feeling now,鈥� she expects soon to find the positives in two fourth-place finishes.
鈥淚n the moment, it鈥檚 hard to take in, just because obviously the only ones that get recognized are the ones on the podium鈥B]ut I really do feel proud of my skiing,鈥� says Ms. Muir. 鈥淪omeone always has to be fourth, so I鈥檒l take the burden.鈥�
Associated Press
