Winning and Losing
The Paris 2024 Olympics
by Brian Radcliffe
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To consider the lessons that we learn from winning and losing.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Winning and Losing) and the means to display them.
Assembly
- Show Slide 1.
Ask the children what they know about the Olympic Games.
Listen to a range of responses. - Explain that the Olympics is held every four years. It is the leading international sporting event, involving thousands of athletes from across the world. More than 200 teams take part.
- Ask if anyone knows where the Olympics is taking place this year.
Listen to a range of responses.
Tell the children that the Olympics starts later this month, on Friday 26 July. It will take place in Paris, the capital of France. - Explain that you have compiled a short Olympics quiz for the children to try.
The last Olympics should have taken place in 2020, but it was delayed until 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ask the following questions, taking responses from the children after each one.
- Where was the last Olympics located? (Answer: Tokyo)
- Show Slide 2.
These people are Marcell Jacobs and Elaine Thompson-Herah. What did they do at the Tokyo Olympics? (Answer: they won the men’s and women’s 100-metre races, and are the fastest man and woman in the world. Their names have gone down in Olympic history, alongside many greats from the past.)
- Show Slide 3.
These people are Zharnel Hughes and Daryll Neita. What did they do at the Tokyo Olympics? (Answer: Zharnel and Daryll, who are both British sprinters, were placed last in the men’s and women’s 100-metre races. Zharnel was disqualified for a false start, so he wasn’t allowed to run. Daryll simply wasn’t as fast as the other seven athletes in her race.) - Ask the children, ‘Have you ever come last in a competition?’
Explain that it can seem like our lives are full of competitions. And I’m not just talking about sport; there’s competition to achieve the best result in a test, to get the best place in the queue, to buy the latest branded water bottle or games console. There’s competition in groups of people too: to be the most popular, the most listened to or the funniest. Life is a competition of Olympic proportions.
Time for reflection
Let’s think about how it feels to come last. How would Zharnel and Daryll have felt to come last in their races? What have they done with that feeling?
Over time, both athletes would hopefully have realized how well they had done simply to reach the finals of the 100-metre races in the Olympics. It did not end how either of them would have wished, but both of them had made it through to the final. Other athletes, with better times and experience, had not. These two were among the top eight athletes at their distance at that moment. They had competed against their heroes and pushed them all the way.
However, this knowledge was not enough for Zharnel and Daryll. Over the next three years, Daryll won a series of bronze medals at European and Commonwealth level. She had entered the top three. She’d emerged as a consistent performer, a rival to Dina Asher Smith, the UK number one. She’d faced the challenge and was motivated to go better each time.
For Zharnel, the consequences of his Olympic disqualification have been even more dramatic. Last year, he broke both UK national sprint records, the 100 and 200 metres, to become the fastest ever British athlete. He also won a bronze medal at the World Championships. Zharnel says he has learned to relax, and not put too much pressure on himself to achieve. Both athletes believed in their own abilities, even after suffering a setback.
So, what might Zharnel and Daryll’s experience teach us?
We’re not thinking here about the winners among us; we’re thinking about those of us who are used to coming last, or at least not in the top three.
First, let’s appreciate our little victories. They might not mean anything to anyone else, but we know that someone in a lesson listened to our idea, that we got our highest score in that test, that we made the subs bench for that match. Let’s rejoice in these things, even if only to ourselves. Let’s make ourselves proud.
Second, let’s take these little victories as motivation for the future. Let’s not rest on our laurels - instead, we can aim even higher!
Third, let’s look out for those who may feel downhearted, point out their victories and celebrate with them.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you that you made us.
Thank you that we all have different gifts and abilities.
Please help us when we find something difficult.
Please help us to persevere.
Please help us not to give up.
Amen.
Song/music
‘Touch the sky’ from the film Brave, available at: https://youtu.be/NvR9YOpDG4A (2.16 minutes long)
