The World Champion in 1977 in c-1 slalom was Peter Sodomka from Czechoslovakia. The World Championships that year were in Spittal, Austria, and I raced there. I came in 6th in c-1. The world champion, Peter Sodomka had to actually stop in one of the upstream gates on his winning run and tuck his spray skirt back in because it had come loose.
My brother Jon, who did not even qualify for the team that year in c-1 and had to watch the World Championships from shore, did not idolize the World Champion. Jon critized Sodomka- Jon said that the World Champion wasn't aggressive or fast enough. He knew he could do better, even though Jon wasn't even in the top 4 qualifiers in the U.S. that year and so didn't even get to race at the World Championships.
I thought that Jon was being disrespectful to the reigning World Champion. I didn't think it was right to criticize him- better to try to learn from him. But instead of trying to imitate or copy the reigning World Champion, Jon watched him and knew that he could do better and take the sport to a new level.
Jon could see that the level in c-1 wasn't high enough. He was going to set the bar much higher. And he did. He won the next World Championship in 1979 in Jonquiere, Canada. And the one after that in 1981 in Bala, Wales. And the one after that in 1983 in Merano, Italy. And two more, in 1987 and 1989.
The point I am trying to make is that it takes a unique individual to watch a watch a world champion and decide that you can do better. Many people think they couldn't ever do as well. Some dream that some day that will be them. Some try to imitate the current World Champion. But very few watch and then say they can do better and then go out and do it.
Maybe there was also something about not making the team that actually motivated Jon to improve also. David Hearn also missed making the team that year and watched the Worlds from shore (I raced in the c-2 wildwater event with him). Together, the two of them went on to dominate the event for the next 10 years or so. Perhaps the frustration of not making the team propelled them to try even harder in the future.
Some people might have been disappointed in not making the team and given up or doubted their ability to do well in the sport. But for Jon and David it was a motivating factor and they went on to place first and second in the Worlds for the next 10 years. So, perhaps paradoxically, failure can propel you to improve even more and become more successful if you have the right attitude about it. And criticizing the champion can help you to become even better than the current level of competition.
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