The Olympic dream

I too was totally absorbed by the Olympic Games over the last two weeks. From our couches, we watch Olympic dreams come true or fall apart. The media also ran at full speed. We read about Jutta who arrived in a private jet and did not want to talk to the press. We have opinions about this until she wins the gold medal and we all collectively worship her as a self-made woman.

All the women in the Netherlands are criticising Femke Kok’s coach who joked that she, Femke Kok, had everything but a boyfriend. Femke then had to respond to the hubbub that followed which she said was ‘ridiculous’. We sympathise with Joep Wennemars who was obstructed by his rival and later missed out on a medal in the 1,500 metre race, and with the women after the team fell in the relay race final. We celebrate the gold medals of Xandra Velzeboer and Jens van ’t Wout and celebrate Melle van ‘t Wout’s 26th birthday when he won silver in the 500 metres.

What stays with me the most is how the top athletes interact with each other

What stays with me the most is not how we behave from the side lines, but how the top athletes interact with each other. Femke and Jutta who push each other to great heights, competitors but each with her own speciality resulting in two gold and two silver medals. The Van ‘t Wout brothers that are so happy to stand on the winners platform together that it does not matter at all that Dubois won gold. And the women in the relay race team who are very disappointed about the final but do not blame each other.

To me, the best story is that of the whole TeamNL Short-track Speed Skating, and in particular the role of Kip Carpenter, the materials man. Apart from his technical skills in terms of the blades and shoes, Kip Carpenter brings something else special to the team. Before every race, Kip speeches to the team. He does this wearing crazy outfits (in Dutch). For one event he was dressed as a clown and at the Olympic Games he was dressed in Roman battle garb.

These rituals (I understand that there was also something with funny presents) combined with the focus on team building and the quality of the skaters creates a team (in Dutch) in which everyone feels safe and can perform at their best. It makes me happy that Kip is put in the spotlight once in a while by the team and by the press as one can wonder if Xandra and Jens could have achieved what they did without him.

And this is how it works in the academic world too. While I don’t like to compare academia with professional sports, a lot of academics also have dreams that they work towards for years. And just like the short-track speed skating champions, academics too cannot do this alone. They too operate in teams, and it is only with a safe and properly functioning team that they will achieve their dreams. So whatever your academic dream is, look around you, recognise everyone who helps you achieve your success and put them in the spotlight.