The Pressure of the Olympic Competitions

I cannot imagine the pressure that the athletes in the Olympics are under. They practice and train for hours daily for years for this one event. When it comes to swimming or the running, it's such a short time of competition. Did you see that guy last night break the world record for the 200m run? That was less than 20 seconds of his life, but it was the most important 20 seconds. In the last Olympics, there was a girl who was running the marathon and doing well (maybe 2nd place or something), yet 3 miles before the finish line, she just had a breakdown. She couldn't handle it.

We have other friends who are in competitions like Kevin Johnson, motocross rider who won a gold at the X Games. He races almost every weekend, and he knows that his livelihood all depends on if he wins races. That's a lot of pressure.

You've heard me talk about the pressures of live performances before...how 30 minutes onstage is equivalent to an 8 hour work day when it comes to stress and physical pressure. (That means that we worked overtime last week doing 10 shows in 4 days). However, I feel like it's nothing compared to the pressure of these athletes. It's cool that they are the best in the world, but I don't think that I could do it even if I was the best in the world at something. It's just too much pressure!