It’s All About The Olympics!

Open a paper, put on the T.V or radio it’s the hot topic in the country right now. Craig Butterfield has his say...


I find it fascinating hearing different people’s opinion on the Olympics, some say that simply being at the Olympics, being an Olympian is all that’s important, that the result on the whole doesn’t matter. To others it’s only about the gold medal, anything less than being crowned Olympic champion is failure.

Do you win a silver medal……or lose a gold?

There is no right answer, it’s all about your own attitude and personal goals. To some simply making the final of your event, or not coming last is an achievement. To perform beyond expectation is to some a victory in itself in the same way that performing below your best and coming 2nd is simply disaster.

All match anglers would like to win Fish O mania, Match This or the National but realistically most will never come close but does that mean we should never have that sense of achievement. Yes we should all dream big but by setting smaller realistic goals we can come off the bank feeling like a winner even if we didn’t win. To some that may just be beating your mate, the angler next to you, coming the top half in your section or even beating your best match weight but whatever your goal when you set yourself a target and achieve it it’s a personal victory, and victory feels good at any level.

Match fishing in some ways is just like the Olympics, sometimes the difference in ability between 1st and last can massive, that is one of the brilliant things about Match fishing, a novice can sit next to a world champion and compete on the same stage. However the one area that all match anglers could learn from the Olympic athletes  is the mutual respect for their fellow competitors.

The angler you just doubled at the next peg may have just broke his best match weight, the angler who came one from last may have just beaten someone for the first time, rather than laugh at the people who you beat take a second to think about your own performance……. Did you fail perform to the best of your ability while they exceeded all expectations they had? Who should really be laughing at who?

We will all look back at these Olympics and remember Jess Ennis, Usain Bolt and Mo Farah, the stars in any sport will always be remembered. All sports need someone to look up to, someone to inspire the next generation but without the competitors who make up the numbers there would be no competition. We can all live without the stars…..but can we live without sport?



X