Firstpost
  • Home
  • Video Shows
    Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
  • World
    US News
  • Explainers
  • News
    India Opinion Cricket Tech Entertainment Sports Health Photostories
  • Asia Cup 2025
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
Trending:
  • Charlie Kirk shot dead
  • Nepal protests
  • Russia-Poland tension
  • Israeli strikes in Qatar
  • Larry Ellison
  • Apple event
  • Sunjay Kapur inheritance row
fp-logo
Tokyo Big Picture: At the Olympics, for some athletes even a silver medal reeks of failure
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
  • Home
  • Sports
  • Tokyo Big Picture: At the Olympics, for some athletes even a silver medal reeks of failure

Tokyo Big Picture: At the Olympics, for some athletes even a silver medal reeks of failure

Amit Kamath • August 10, 2021, 12:32:57 IST
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter

For athletes like Geno Petriashvili, Hassan Yazdanicharati, Benjamin Whittaker and India’s Ravi Dahiya, you don’t win silver. You settle.

Advertisement
Subscribe Join Us
Add as a preferred source on Google
Prefer
Firstpost
On
Google
Tokyo Big Picture: At the Olympics, for some athletes even a silver medal reeks of failure

With his body weight hovering around 125 kilograms, Geno Petriashvili is a terrifying man mountain. But as he stood on the podium for the medal ceremony, he wept like a child. All through the ceremony, the Georgian kept his eyes locked on the floor and his palms stuck to the outside of his thighs, like a school kid being rebuked by his parents. So distraught was he by what had befallen him at the Makuhari Messe Hall, the venue for the wrestling contests at the Tokyo Olympics , that throughout his stay on the podium, he raised his hands just four times: once to accept—nay, pick up—his medal, then to take the ceremonial bouquet, then to applaud his opponent Gable Steveson, and finally, to wipe his tears with his bucket-sized palms. Hassan Yazdanicharati, who competes in the 86kg weight class, is significantly tinier than Petriashvili. But that does not make him any less intimidating. After his 86kg wrestling final, it took three people to restrain the howling, bellowing—and hurting—Iranian, as they led him away from the wrestling mat.

Firstpost in Tokyo Banner

Outside the boxing ring, Great Britain’s Benjamin Whittaker has a casual charisma, a dramatic backstory, a flair for delivering quotes, and a smile that make him a sports marketer’s dream and an easy day in the office for a sports writer. But on the day he won a career-defining medal at the Olympics, he made headlines only for his gesture of keeping his medal tucked in his jacket as he stood on the podium for the medal ceremony. Petriashvili, Yazdanicharati and Whittaker all went home as medallists. But, in their own eyes, not as winners. They’d only won silver. While Petriashvili and Yazdanicharati did not talk to the English media in the mixed zone after their defeats, Whittaker was more forthcoming. “I lost a gold, so to me it’s a failure. I’m not going to celebrate silver at the moment. You don’t win silver… you lose gold. So that is why I was so emotional. Nobody trains for silver or bronze,” he told the British press when quizzed about his gesture on the podium before conceding: “I am sure over the years I will look back and see what an achievement it is.” Whittaker’s gesture was reminiscent of Ravi Dahiya, who won a silver medal in wrestling for India, but tucked his medal in his pocket as he walked into the mixed zone after his medal ceremony. While Dahiya and Whittaker were Olympic debutants, Yazdanicharati and Petriashvili are bonafide legends of the sport of wrestling. The Iranian lost the final of the men’s 86kg weight class to USA’s David Taylor. The defeat had come in the dying seconds of the bout, when Taylor got two points for a double-leg takedown to go 3-2 up. Petriashvili, who competes in the 125kg weight class, suffered an even more heartbreaking loss in the final, dropping crucial points to USA’s Steveson in the last 10 seconds of the bout. The Georgian is a wrestling legend, having won bronze at Rio five years ago besides three successive World Championship gold medals. Of course, not everyone is heartbroken with silver. For some, a silver is a life-defining moment. Sailor John Gimson, who finished second in the mixed multihull Nacra 17 event representing Great Britain, put his medal into context by saying: “It’s been a tough 20 years. My class was dropped from the Olympics twice, I spent all my money and sold my house just to be able to compete, which is what makes this moment so special.” _Also read: Vignettes from Indian contingent’s three weeks in Japanese capital_

Tags
Olympics Tokyo 2020 Tokyo Olympics 2020 Ravi Dahiya Firstpost in Tokyo
End of Article
Written by Amit Kamath
Email

Amit Kamath is with the sports desk in Mumbai. He covers Olympic sports like wrestling, shooting, and boxing besides also writing about NBA and kabaddi. In 2014, he was declared the runner-up in the sports category at the National RedInk Award for Excellence in Journalism for his story on Sports Authority of India's Kandivli campus where world-class athletes had to put up with appalling conditions. He was a Robert Bosch Media Ambassador in 2019. see more

Latest News
Find us on YouTube
Subscribe
End of Article

Impact Shorts

WWE SummerSlam 2025 Night 2 results: Cody Rhodes beats John Cena in wild title match

WWE SummerSlam 2025 Night 2 results: Cody Rhodes beats John Cena in wild title match

Brock Lesnar's return headlines Night Two of WWE Summerslam Cody Rhodes defeats John Cena to become the Undisputed WWE Champion Becky Lynch defeats Lyra Valkyria to stay Women’s Intercontinental Champion.

More Impact Shorts

Top Stories

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Top Shows

Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
Latest News About Firstpost
Most Searched Categories
  • Web Stories
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • IPL 2025
NETWORK18 SITES
  • News18
  • Money Control
  • CNBC TV18
  • Forbes India
  • Advertise with us
  • Sitemap
Firstpost Logo

is on YouTube

Subscribe Now

Copyright @ 2024. Firstpost - All Rights Reserved

About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms Of Use
Home Video Shorts Live TV