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Lessons from the Sochi Winter Olympic Games

Here are lessons learned from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

6. Wipeouts happen

Sergei Grits/AP
Austria's Markus Schairer, top, and Canada's Robert Fagan crash during a men's snowboard cross heat at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park in Krasnaya Polyana, at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 18.

  • By Staff

It’s great to see the joy of victory, but the agony of an Olympic-level wipeout can be scary for those watching at home.

During the qualifying runs of snowboardcross, American snowboarder Jackie Herenandez crashed with Norwegian boarder Helene Olafsen. Both were taken off the course in stretchers. With the excitement of fast moving action and wipeouts, it's hard to see any athlete take a hard hit, especially one that leaves them temporarily unresponsive, like Ms. Hernandez was after her crash.

Olympians teach us to keep going after the crash. Jeremy Abbott of US figure skating is a great illustration of that lesson. He fell hard on the ice, and on camera, while landing a quadruple toe loop. After a moment of sitting, a few winces, and listening to his music cues, he finished his program like a champ. Mr. Abbott finished off the podium, but his perseverance, like that of so many other Olympians, earned him respect among fans.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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