Great athletes achieve great things.  Except when they don’t.  The great ones make it all seem so utterly effortless, we sometimes fail to appreciate the true level of their achievement.  From our comfortable seats in the arena, we munch on popcorn and relax.  And then it happens — our souls are stirred by a peak performance by a great champion.  As their greatness entertains us, some of their magic flows onto us through a special athlete -to-normal-human transference of energy.  In our dreams, we all want to be like them… except when they fail.  Their failure diminishes us and makes us common folks again.  Why do some of the greatest athletes sometimes fail?

Steve Prefontaine brought incredible energy to the running movement in the early 70s with his breathtaking speed and endurance.  He’s considered one of the greatest American distance runners of all time, yet after setting long distance running records in events from the 2,000 to 10,000 meters, he failed to win a medal in the 1972 Olympics in Munich.  In the 5000-meter event, he was overcome in the last gasp of the race, the last 150 meters—narrowly losing out on a medal.  Yet even with this loss Prefontaine remains a legend in long-distance running.

Mary Decker, like Steve Prefontaine, is a world-class long-distance runner who started running in her teens in the early 70s.  She holds an unprecedented 17 world records and 36 National records.  Yet her hard charging career was often marred by illness and heartbreaking losses due to injury.  Coming in at the top of her game, she was expected to take the Gold medal in the 3000-meter event at the 1984 Summer Olympics, yet she lost in a heartbreaking-to-watch accident when she collided with runner Zola Budd.  Decker came back from this bitter loss, however, by setting more records in the 80s, including a new record for the women’s mile.

Both these legends prove that failure is all part of the game of winning, and is not necessarily an ending but just part of the process of achieving greatness.