Opinion – Marina Izidro: Is the silver medal worse than the bronze?

In a week’s time, the Winter Olympics begin in Beijing. About 3,000 athletes will compete in the most important competition of their lives. Few will be champions, most will not be on the podium, and that’s part of the sport.

But I don’t know if you’ve noticed that, in the delivery of medals, the third place is usually smiling, while the expression of the second place is sometimes one of disappointment. Why is silver seen by many competitors as being worse than bronze? For years, experts have tried to explain this question.

The answer may be in your face, literally. One of the most relevant studies was published in 1995 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Psychology professor Thomas Gilovich and his colleagues recorded the reactions of silver and bronze medalists during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics – when athletes discovered their placements and at the awards ceremony. Then they showed the video to students without revealing the final positions. The analysis was that, in general, whoever took the bronze was more satisfied.

The researchers also interviewed more than 100 medalists at an amateur competition in the United States and asked them to rate their performance. Third-place finishers looked happier and relieved to be on the podium, while runners-up felt defeated because they compared themselves to first-place finishers. The feeling was that they didn’t win the silver, but rather lost the gold.

Another 2006 survey in the same publication analyzed the facial expression of gold, silver, bronze medalists and fifth-place finishers in the 2004 Athens Olympic Judo competition. Third place winners had a more spontaneous smile, which means using facial muscles that squint their eyes and generate “crow’s feet”. The reaction of the silver medalists, according to the authors, showed that they were just being polite, not happy. The famous yellow smile.

A study done by the London School of Economics after the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games revealed similar results. Emotional responses are influenced by what could have happened, not what actually happened. The performance margin was also relevant: psychologically, narrowly winning silver rather than bronze would be less disappointing.

It is possible to have empathy if we think about everyday situations. Some people are happy with a pay raise, but may be dismayed to learn that their office colleague got an even bigger one. Anyone who wants to lose five kilos and lose six pounds celebrates, but if the idea was to lose ten kilos and it’s five pounds less on the scale, the feeling can be defeat.

Often, the human being diminishes himself when he compares himself or when he thinks about what he could have done. Everyone, to a greater or lesser extent, has been there.

In competitions involving third place, the bronze medalist comes from a victory, while the silver medalist comes from a defeat. In sport, there are many ways to deal with second place. Some athletes turn disappointment into fuel to train harder and try to win next time. Others recognize and appreciate the size of the feat they have achieved after years of dedication. One more lesson that the Olympic Games teach us about human emotions.