Flying high in sport without the thrill of victory

Happiness through winning is easy, but the simple act of beating a challenge can bring just as much joy, argues Graham Caygill.

A young competitor is elated to cross the finish line at the Abu Dhabi Zayed Marathon in March 2016. Adel Al Nuaimi / Al Ittihad

It is usually not difficult to find happiness in sport.

The easiest place to locate it normally is in those who are doing the winning.

The celebrations, the emotion, the smiles. A sporting field, after a positive result, is usually a happy place.

A great example recently was witnessing the sheer elation on the faces of players, coaching staff, and their fans after Villanova University won the NCAA men’s basketball final against the University of North Carolina Tar Heels this month with a three-point shot at the buzzer.

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This article is part of our supplement on happiness, which unites us all. For more happiness stories visit our dedicated page.

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Players dropped to their knees in jubilation, others danced around with their arms aloft, and joyful tears were shed, both on and off the court, as the Wildcats won their first US college basketball title in 31 years.

Ryan Arcidiacono, Villanova’s senior guard, summed up his feelings in a courtside interview: “That’s just something that everyone dreams about.”

Victory for a person or team has always been the easiest way to spot happiness in the world of spot. Sport, as a rule, is a results-based industry. You have a competition. Be it between individuals or teams, there is a contest to see who will be the victor.

The one who comes out on top wins, because, well, they are the best, and have every reason to be happy as it is job done. Mission accomplished.

Winning can also prove to be vindication for an athlete or a coach.

Portuguese football manager Jose Mourinho has claimed his happiness came from winning so he could measure himself favourably against his rivals and know that he, personally, was meeting his own expectations of achievement.

"My happiness, first of all, is when I compare myself with the other managers, I see just a few that are with me in terms of success," he said last year after winning the Premier League title with his former club, Chelsea.

Yet while sport is usually split into two categories, the winner and the loser, that does not automatically mean that there is no happiness for a person or organisation that does not triumph.

The sports movie, Eddie the Eagle, which came out at cinemas across the UAE earlier this month, was a reminder of the different levels of delight that can be attained in competition.

The film tells the tale of Eddie Edwards, a British ski jumper who competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada.

What was remarkable about Edwards was that he went with the goal of just being happy to be there and to compete. He finished last, by a considerable distance from the rest of the field, in both the competitions he jumped.

But it did not matter to Edwards. He was happy simply to have lived his dream of competing at the Olympics and of doing the best that he could.

In an interview with The Guardian last month to promote the movie, Edwards said: "For me, just getting there was my gold medal."

His is not the only example of a person whose happiness has come simply from just being able to get onto the sporting field.

The Jamaican bobsleigh team, which also had a film made about them in 1993's Cool Runnings, also competed in Calgary.

Meanwhile, Eric Moussambani, the swimmer from Equatorial Guinea, became one of the most popular athletes at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 for his efforts in the pool where he won a heat of the 100-metre freestyle, after his two opponents had been disqualified for false starts, in a time of 1:52.72 – more than double that of the fastest men in the pool.

Moussambani became affectionately known as “Eric the Eel” and his name is better remembered by sports fans than the eventual gold medallist in the event, Pieter van den Hoogenband.

Even though he knew he had no chance of winning, Moussambani had still been delighted with his experience.

"I felt so good when I arrived in Sydney," he told the Telegraph four years ago. "It was amazing. I was happy being at the Olympics, because it was a new experience for me."

Sport, both for professionals and for amateurs, allows people to live their dreams, to challenge themselves, and to accomplish their targets.

Last month, Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi was packed with runners for the annual Zayed Marathon races.

Now, there was only one winner in each category, but that did not prevent many of the thousands of competitors, both young and old, from having grins on their faces as they left the facility after completing the race.

Winning may be the automatic way to generate a happy emotion in sport, but the feeling of accomplishment, of taking on and beating a challenge and simply doing yourself justice should not be overlooked for creating exhilaration and pleasure – there will always be more to it than simply a result.