I have been watching the Olympics and have been caught up in the spirit of the games, not only with United States Athletes, but by many of the athletes. I have been amazed at some of the sportsmanship that I saw, as well as the humble nature of some of the athletes (I did say some). In thinking about this, I started to wonder:

What makes a champion?

I came up with 5 main things that came to my mind:

1) Hard Work - None of these Olympians were able to come to these Olympics without many years of hard work. You hear the stories and what many sacrificed over the years to be able to be where they are today and I wonder how many of us could also do as much in our own lives.

2) Persistence - These Olympians did not get to the peak of their game without pushing through adversity and set backs. Whether these may have been injuries, country or familial termoil or other such things, these athletes pushed through them and many times worked even harder to achieve their goals.

3) Sportsmanship - There were numerous times in the games where an athlete’s graciousness at winning really came through. I was think specifically about Dara Torres in a semi final heat stopping the race before it had begun to help a fellow swimmer with the fact that there was a tear in her suit. I mean how many of us, in a situation where we are competing for a top prize could get our mind off of the target to help the competition…. I hope that I can say that I would do the same and I think I would, but without being in the situation it is hard to tell for sure.

4) Support - So many of these athletes have had families, coaches, friends, and the like behind them, being their biggest cheerleaders and fans. Put yourself in the athletes shoes… Who do you have that gives you such support? Who is your biggest fan?

5) Driven - These people are driven by a goal, they have set their eyes on a prize and for them it was an Olympic medal (preferably gold). This drive taps into the other four items that I mentioned above but also transcends athletics and can be seen in all of our lives in one way or another.

So in thinking about this I did a little research and found some resources that I thought I would share…