There are solo sports. But there are no solo championships.
Sometimes it's you facing a single opponent. Boxing. Tennis. MMA. You're locked in. One on one. At the end, one person exits the court, the ring or the cage as the winner.
Sometimes it's you against the herd. 100 meter heats on the track. Battling through the crowd at the start of a triathlon. Trying to time your kick versus the field as you round the bend in the 1500m.
And sometimes it's you versus the best that you can do. A lot of track and field events are like that. Gymnastics. People take turns and you're just trying to clear the best result. The best score. But it's just you by yourself out there in the moment try to beat your previous performance.
At the end of the day, one person gets to stand atop of the podium. One person gets to raise a trophy. One person gets to hang a gold medal around their neck. One athlete. One competitor. One champion.
Except championships aren't won alone. Every champion has the will. The determination. The skillset. The desire. The athleticism. And the focus required to win.
But they didn't develop those alone. They have mentors, coaches, and a team. Their ability to earn the right to stand on top of the podium is a direct result of the preparation, process and skills they built along the way. The skills developed by their team.
George St Pierre is widely regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists on the planet. He won titles in both the welterweight and middleweight division. He went 26-2 across his professional career in the UFC. But each one of those 28 times he was locked in a cage with an opponent, he wasn't alone. He worked with Freddy Roach on his boxing, John Danaher on his jiujitsu and Firas Zahabi on his overall fight strategy. That on top of training partners, nutritionists, athletic trainers, recovery specialists and more.
Serena Williams has Patrick Mouratoglou. Michael Phelps had Bob Bowman. Usain Bolt had Glen Mills. None of those coaches received an Olympic medal or championship trophy. But each of them created the environment for their athletes to win.
A great reminder - no championships are won alone. Even in individual sports.
- Christian