There is a moment after a race where I am still a competitor but also a spectator.
I have completed the race, just now. I have given everything and in this moment I am free from thoughts. Nothing actually mattered, in the end, even though I was eager to win. When I touched the wall, in that moment, whether I had come first or last was irrelevant to me because I knew deep down that I was well prepared and that I had given everything.
Thoughts disappeared as I breathed heavily for air.
The competitors who maybe I beat or maybe beat me are, after all, just like me. And, after all, we are only competing against ourselves, against time and against and universal laws.
Now, we – the competitors – are now standing together to watch the next heat of men race.
We are curious to know the outcome, thus our outcome. And there is nothing we can do.
So we stand like statues, still, and completely emotionless,
Like the statues who stood before us, watching us and then upon seeing the outcome, we move on.
After we are competitors and spectators, we become equals.