How we cite our quotes: (Book)
Quote #4
Earlier that day, I had my first event, the 100-meter breaststroke, at the Olympic trials in Indianapolis. The swimmer to beat was sixteen-year-old Megan Quann, a big, muscular high school student from Washington State who had been on fire in all the important meets leading up to the trials. (In the Water They Can't See You Cry)
This was a common thing to do for all of our Olympic athletes. They tend to narrow down the field and pick out one or two people that would be dubbed "the competition." But if that's really true, why are all the other competitors even bothering?
Quote #5
Yes, I could dive well, and maybe I could win a gold, but I was still young and inconsistent. I was capable of scoring 10s, but I was just as capable of scoring 2s. The worst part was that Dr. Lee was losing sight of the fact that this was about a young diver competing to the best of his ability; he wanted me to win a gold medal to protect his own record. (Breaking The Surface)
"Compete" as a verb is really different than "competition" as a noun. To compete means to try, to give it your all at a certain task. Competition, though, is a nerve-inducing noun, a trial, and a race that will put you to the test.
Quote #6
Joe, he thought, had maximized both his physical and his mental abilities to an uncommon degree, thus permitting himself to compete against much bigger, stronger, more naturally gifted men. He had managed that not just because he understood the sport and his own abilities so completely but also because he understood the concept of relativity in competition. Joe did not go into an event hoping to set a record or to dominate others. Rather he shrewdly assessed his own strengths and limits as well as those of his main competitors and adjusted his race plans accordingly. (The Amateurs)
So, in other words, he raced smarter not stronger. This is key for a smaller competitor, but what threw us completely was the phrase "concept of relativity in competition." Can't you just see Einstein, hair askew and tongue out the side of his mouth as he rows himself to victory?