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Sprint Geezer wrote:

Let me say first that I like Nick Symmonds, A LOT.

He's a heck of a better runner than I ever was, or will be.

But his mentality is EXACTLY why Americans are NOT winning like some think they should.

"It cost me my lane and cost me my whole race."

Bullcrap, Nick. Stop externalizing. YOUR actions, and your actions alone, cost you the race.

"I thought when he was coming up on my shoulder, "I've got to hold him off. I've got to hold him off""

Then why DIDN'T you, Nick? This is precisely the moment in time where you failed. Listen to your heart, take control, do what you FEEL, NOT what you THINK.

"To do so would have meant kicking from 150-160 meters out which also would have cost me the race."

You don't know that, and you lacked the courage to react and rise to the occasion of winning later in the race. You did not push yourself, you were conservative rather than going for the win. It was a rather slow race, wasn't it? Maybe you could have kicked from 150m out and won, but you will never KNOW this as a fact--you may have decided this to be true, but you will never KNOW for sure.

That is what courage is all about, Nick--going into the unknown, doing something that doesn't seem to make sense at the time, but which forces you to adapt and do something of which you never believed yourself capable.

Talk to anybody who's ever had a real breakthrough performance, and they will tell you this. Talk to Amantle Montsho. Talk to Kirani James. They will tell you. They didn't take "no" for an answer. You did.

You show us that you understand that this was your failure when you say that "you just didn't create the space for yourself", but you don't indicate that you understand WHY you didn't create the space for yourself.

It's because you lack the sheer desire to win, and the courage to throw caution to the wind and let something extraordinary happen.

Too bad, because many believe you really could have medalled. I'd love to see you medal at the Olympics--and if you do, I'll make sure to write a glowing review on this board, maybe even on this thread. Nothing beats redemption.

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