Losing the Gold

For most Olympics viewers, winning a silver medal at the Games would seem pretty impressive. For the silver medalists themselves, however, their feat can be disappointing. Victoria Medvec, a psychologist, studied Olympians and found that bronze medalists are actually happier than silver medalists, who dwell on thoughts about “what might have been.” Bronze medalists are simply happy they made the podium at all. Medvec points to a 1996 Nike ad which sums up the disappointment many silver medalists feel: “You don’t win silver – you lose gold.” (HT: Marginal Revolution) [%comments]