Being a sore loser isn’t a pretty spectacle especially at the Olympics where participating is supposedly more important than winning. The US women’s soccer goalkeeper, Hope Solo (the defending champions) later tweeted she wasn’t good at losing after she’d branded the Swedish team who beat them in the quarter finals as ‘cowards.’
The Olympic ideal is, of course, a myth. In chariot races in the ancient Graeco-Roman Olympic Games, the winner got to spear the loser in the back; and the prize went not to the courageous driver but to his rich sponsor. Boxing was often a fight to the death, or disfigurement with eye gouging allowed. On one occasion a corpse was awarded the victor’s crown as he expired moments after subduing his opponent.
There were no silver or bronze medals, no runners up. Winning was everything. And often it was victory or death.
Hope Solo, 31 July 1981, a two-time Olympic Gold Medallist, has Sun and Moon in Leo, which is a sign that doesn’t handle failure well. Plus she has a volatile Mars in Cancer in a rough-edged square to Saturn and Jupiter in Libra. Mars Saturn has a problem keeping a grip on intemperate outbursts. Plus her Mercury in emotional Cancer is in an intense square to Pluto and trine outspoken Uranus. With a drive that got her to the top as one of the world’s greatest female goalkeepers she doesn’t take any hostages.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/29/opinions/why-hope-solo-had-to-go-robbins/index.html
“It’s not her fault she’s dysfunctional…it’s our culture of winning that made her say what she said.”
“…she doesn’t take any hostages.” Nor any medals or friends. Indeed, being alive is better than not. Thanks for the bit of history – none of that was ever taught in my grade school history classes…I wonder why.