Author: John Pages

The above question sounds preposterous. Of course, you’d say, second is much better than third! Well, that’s true. But as to who’s “happier,” the answer might surprise you.

During the Rio Olympics, plenty of post-race footages were snapped and, obviously, the gold medalist grinned the widest smile; but when they examined the faces of the 2nd and 3rd placers, oftentimes the one who took bronze beamed a more jubilant face.

“Winning a silver medal at the Olympic Games brings glory, but a bronze makes people happier,” wrote Stefan Klein in “The Science of Happiness: How Our Brains Make Us Happy and What We Can Do to Get Happier.”

Mr. Klein continued: “While the runners-up imagine themselves on the top step and are upset, having missed their goal by a few tenths of a second, the bronze medal winners feel terrific, as the social psychologist Victoria Medcec discovered at the Barcelona games in 1992. Those in third place were happy that they won a medal at all and made it into the record books, whereas the silver winners were mainly aware of what they’d just missed.”

Makes sense? Yes. Back in 1995, a study was conducted by the psychologists Victoria Medvec and Thomas Gilovich of Cornell University and Scott Madey of the University of Toledo. They asked their students to evaluate video footages of athletes who joined the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

From a score of 1-to-10 (“1” being “agony” and “10” being “ecstatic”), the students ranked the happiness level that they perceived the winning athletes scored. The result? Those who won silver scored 4.8 while those who got bronze scored 7.1.

Stunning result! Isn’t this why they often refer to the 2nd placer as “the first loser?” Based on psychology — a topic that I relish and enjoy reading a lot about — the term is called “counterfactual thinking.” In simple words, it means that people compare their achievements to “what might have been.”

A silver medalist thinks… sayang, I missed being No. 1. A bronze medalist realizes.. salamat, I won a medal!

This happened in the 100-meter race in Brazil. After crossing the finish line first, Usain Bolt exhibited the happiest of smiles. He then uncorked his “Lightning Bolt” pose. The third placer Andre de Grasse looked equally overjoyed. The sad one? Justin Gatlin, silver medalist.

William James, the philosopher, wrote these words in 1892 and they still hold true today: “So we have the paradox of a man shamed to death because he is only the second pugilist or the second oarsman in the world. That he is able to beat the whole population of the globe minus one is nothing; he has ‘pitted’ himself to beat that one; and as long as he doesn’t do that nothing else counts.”

In Rio, this also happened in golf between Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Matt Kuchar. All the way to the 18th hole, Rose and Stenson were tied. But when Rose birdied the final hole to triumph, Stenson was downtrodden. He lost, Rose won Olympic gold and Kuchar celebrated his bronze.

“We are not suggesting, of course, that finishing second or coming close to a cherished outcome always leads to less satisfaction than a slightly more modest performance,” the study, led by the psychologist Medvec, continued. “Finishing second is truly a mixed blessing. Performing that well provides a number of direct benefits that increase our well-being: recognition from others, boosts to self-esteem, and so on. At the same time, it can indirectly lower satisfaction by the unfortunate contrast with what might have been.”

China has one such example: her name Fu Yuanhui. The Olympic swimmer is now world-famous not because of her achievement last month but because of her reaction after the 100-meter backstroke. Minutes after her Olympic swim — all captured in YouTube and with views exceeding a million — you can see Fu Yuanhui completely ecstatic and happy. The reason? She won bronze.

What’s the lesson for us non-Olympians and mere mortals? The meaning of success often depends on one’s expectations.

(Photo: Reuters/Dominic Ebenbichler)

Singapore is tiny. Based on land mass, it has an area of 719 sq. kms. — that’s one-sixth the size of Cebu province or a little over double the size of Cebu City. Singapore is diminutive — but in terms of economic prowess, it ranks third worldwide in per capita income!

In sports, because Singapore’s population is a measly 5.5 million (of which only 40 percent are permanent residents), they have not achieved as much glory as, say, Japan or South Korea. This is understandable because Japan, with its 130 million residents, is huge. Japan has accumulated 142 Olympic gold medals and 439 total Olympic medals. South Korea (population: 50+ million) is equally impressive; it has garnered 90 gold and 264 total medals in the Olympics.

Back to Singapore: Prior to the Brazil Games last month, our ASEAN neighbor had won a meager four medals: three in table tennis and one in weightlifting. Their four Olympic medals were nothing to brag about compared to the nine that our Philippines won and the six that its next-door neighbor Malaysia won (prior to Rio).

But what a difference one event makes. All it takes is 50.39 seconds to change everything. That’s because, last August 12 during the 100-meter butterfly finals, Joseph Schooling became its nation’s first-ever Olympic gold medalist.

Today in Singapore, Joseph is a national hero. If Brazil has Neymar and the U.K. has Andy Murray and Australia once boasted of Ian Thorpe (and we, obviously, have Manny Pacquiao), the Republic of Singapore has their hotshot.

What makes his achievement even more astounding were numerous things. He defeated Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian ever, handing the American his only loss in Rio. And his time of 50.39 was not only an Asian record but also an Olympic record.

Three days after his golden performance, he arrived in Singapore to a welcome never seen before. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong took a selfie with him, saying “Usually people ask me for selfies, but today I felt so proud to ask Joseph for one!” He was exempted from the mandatory four-year military service. He received one million Singapore dollars (or P35 million) as monetary reward. 

Hundreds of fans waited for six hours at the airport last August 15 to welcome him. The TV screens at Changi Airport changed from showing flight schedules to announcing the words, “Thank you for making us proud.” Hundreds carried flags, signs and banners.

And Joseph Schooling is only 21.

Schooling was born and raised in Singapore. His amazing story started at the age of six when he was told about the story of his grand-uncle Lloyd Valberg — who happens to be Singapore’s first Olympian (1948 London). Inspired by that revelation, he tells his dad Colin that he wanted to be in the Olympics.

He trained in Singapore. A life-changing moment in his life happened in 2008. That’s when the US Olympic team visited Singapore and he had an iconic picture — the then-13-year-old boy beside a shirtless, off-the-swim Michael Phelps.

The next year, at the age of 14, he moved to the US for more extensive training. His high school: Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida. (I have fond memories of that school because two Decembers ago, when I joined the Jacksonville Marathon, it was in that campus where we started and finished the 42K race.)

After Florida, the six-footer moved to the University of Texas, where he now studies college (incoming junior).

Speaking of college and prize money, there’s an NCAA ruling that prohibits their collegiate student/athletes from receiving prize money because of their amateur status. But there’s an exception for Olympic medalists: if the athlete’s country of origin rewards the prize. In this case, it’s one million (Singapore) dollars — the largest Olympic prize money offered by any nation.

Congratulations, Singapore. I can’t wait until our Philippines, an Olympic participant since 1924, wins its first Olympic gold.

Only 33 days remain before the August 5 to 21 contest in Rio de Janeiro that’s called the Olympics. Over 10,500 athletes representing 207 countries will be flying to Brazil for this once-every-four-years spectacle. The Olympics will feature only 28 sports — including golf and rugby sevens — with a total of 306 sets of medals.

Rio de Janeiro is the main stage with 33 venues but it’s not the only city to welcome the athletes; there will be five others, including Brasilia (the country’s capital) and Sao Paulo, the nation’s largest.

What makes Rio special? First, it’s the inaugural Summer Olympics to be held in South America. When the final decision was announced in October 2009, Rio bested three other world-renowned cities (Tokyo, Chicago and Madrid) for the prize.

Second, Brazil’s hosting means that it is organzing two of the world’s greatest tournaments one after the other. Back in 2014, the FIFA World Cup football games of 32 nations were played in 12 cities scattered around Brazil. Now, just 26 months later, it’s an even grander gymnasium: the Olympics.

Which brings me to ask this query: Is it too much-too soon for Brazil, the world’s fifth most-populated nation with 205 million residents?

Maybe. While the allure of hosting the World Cup and the Olympics just two years apart was appealing many years back, now, with so many issues involving their financial woes, the Zika and dengue virus, the political turmoil that suspended Pres. Dilma Rousseff, the security breaches, the unfinished Olympic venues — is Rio headed not for gold but for a stumble?

The problems just keep on rising. Days ago, CNN reported that human body parts were found on the shoreline fronting the Olympic Beach Volleyball Arena. The Zika virus has prompted Rory McIlroy and Jason Day to back out; this is sad because golf is making an Olympic comeback since its last showing in 1904.

Money problems? A mammoth headache. Brazil has been struggling with its worst recession since the 1930s. They rely on oil revenues and we know how this commodity’s price has plummeted. Their economy, Latin America’s largest, shrank 5.4 percent in the first quarter.

How much did the World Cup and the Olympics cost Brazil? Roughly $15 billion was spent for the WC while next month’s 16-day tournament is estimated to cost $10 billion — not including cost overruns (which, as any good builder will tell you, is sure to happen). They may have overspent. Remember Athens? They hosted the 2004 Games. Now look at Greece.

Worse, protests have sprouted. The police staged demonstrations over unpaid salaries and a banner read: “Welcome to hell. Police and firefighters don’t get paid, whoever comes to Rio de Janeiro will not be safe.” Reports have surfaced that robberies increased by 43 percent in Rio because of the lack of security services.

Scary. This is the bad side. But, like what has happened in Beijing and in several other cities of major sporting events, at times, this negative press is exagerrated. Let’s hope this “low expectations, high aspirations” mantra of the Brazilian organizers unfolds.

As to our beloved Philippines in Rio? There’s Eric Shauwn Cray, the 27-year-old Fil-Am and SEAG gold medalist, who’s slated to hurdle the 400-meter hurdle event. In boxing, our best chance of pocketing that elusive gold medal, we have two entrants: Charly Suarez (lightweight) and Rogen Ladon (light flyweight).

We have Ian Lariba for women’s table tennis — the first time that we’ve entered a competitor for this game we call ping-pong. Kirstie Alora will fight for our nation in taekwondo. She’s entered in the formidable women’s heavyweight division. In weightlifting, our two representatives are Hidilyn Diaz (women’s -53 kg.) and Nestor Colonia (men’s -56 kg.)

Lastly, our pride and joy: Mary Joy Tabal, whom we hope will hurdle all obstacles so she can join the 42-km. race — to be held at 9:30 a.m. on August 21, the very last day of the Olympics.

We have eight athletes going to Rio. Do we add Gilas Pilinas? Let’s watch next week.