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By Mark Beuligmann, March 3, 2010 4:56 pm

Every time the Olympics come around again, I am struck by the unique spirit and drive of the Olympic athletes. They come from around the world, having spent the previous four years in rigorous training. That training often includes rising before the sun most every morning, and doing a great deal of preparation and work before most folks roll out of bed. It takes serious and sustained desire, ambition, self-denial, and just raw work, to maintain the peak of physical and mental fitness. Whole families, and even towns sometimes, become involved in the athlete’s training and support. All of this is done so that the athlete can travel to some distant corner of the globe to get one shot at gold—and perhaps miss it by a few hundredths of a second. Any little thing that goes wrong can throw the first place contender completely out of the medal running. Everyone knows that if you are out of the medals, you virtually cease to exist in terms of the glory of the Olympics. The journalists stop talking about you very quickly, and no one remembers your name. Continue reading 'Obtaining the Prize'»