The Olympics are a time of worldly competition that tests the limits of a country's best athletes. Challenging not only the physical aspect of a certain event, these athletes also prepare mentally for the toughest trek of their lives. Not only is winning behind the mind of the athlete, but also just the battle itself a person must embrace to find a way to the top. The Olympics showcase the true standards it takes to be number one in the world. But is that all that matters? Is winning the thing that matters when entering such a competition like the Olympics? Well, Piers Morgan (British Journalist) believes so. While many have attempted to refute his bold statement, others have rallied behind his firm belief. 
Winning at anything creates one of the most unexplainable sensations in the world. Now imagine winning one of the greatest honors in the world. Being the greatest in the world at one specific event validates everything that has led up to that moment. The days spent on nonstop training. The time dedicated to making sure the food that is eaten is nothing but spent towards a healthy life. The little things are so nit picky that everything matters in preparing to represent a country for national pride. So the validation of time spent on working toward this specific goal, greatly adds to the win. However, the journey itself adds all the fun. If there was not a roller coaster of emotions and tough moments, winning really is not the same. And in the case of the Olympics, the best way to validate all those long days is by having the gold hanging from the neck. So Morgan is correct in a sense. Like Ricky Bobby said, "If you ain't first, you're last," and there is a truth to both statements. Winning gold is the ultimate accomplishment, not only for yourself, but also the national pride itself. Morgan and many others see no value in the following places. It does nothing for the self esteem, to put it simply: any person who falters is a straight up loser. No questions about it. But the problem with the statement is Morgan really has no idea what it means to be a true competitor.
The problem is the obvious altitude of athletic ability and dedication it must take to even have a chance for qualifying such a world event is incomprehensible. If every person had the same ability as an Olympian, the world would be a completely different place. Of course winning should be one of the top goals of any athlete, anything less would be terrible. But the Olympics should be the one place where that mentality changes. These athletes have a good sense of what they needed to accomplish in order to even be in the Olympics. Then being anywhere near the final heat of their event. And then going beyond that, actually landing on the podium, something that is not an easy feat. Morgan is wrong in his statement. To be an Olympic athlete, there is an obvious amount of practicality on what can be accomplished, so gold is not all that matters. Just being able to represent your country at a global standard places yourself in an unique classification that separates yourself from the rest of the world. So you are already winning. Even not making it to the final heat of the event, you adequately represented your country.
Piers Morgan's comment shows the aggressively present mentality of winning at all costs. That is not a terrible thing. However, when welcoming such a mindset, you discredit all other athletes and the time they spent on getting to the best possible shape they could. Winning gold is outstanding and should be given all the praise possible, but never discredit the second and third place; they are just one step short to being solely on the top.
