Page 38 - Tracy Anderson Magazine – Summer 2020

but by only 0.038. Next was the vault. The exercise Paul “DRAMATIC
After three rotations, Paul was leading China’s Yang Wei,
planned to do had a difficulty ranking of 10, the highest in COMEBACKS
the sport. Focusing his attention, Paul sprinted down the
runway, hit the springboard, launching himself off the vault
and into the air, twisting and turning, looking for the mat to AGAINST ALL ODDS
stick his landing…and crashed. An awkward landing threw
Paul off balance. Leaning badly to the right, he ended up REMIND US OF
on his bottom. He was unable to stop his momentum, and
the judges on the panel had to hold up their hands to keep WHAT WE CAN
him from tumbling into them.
ACHIEVE WHEN
A New Purpose
WE’RE MOTIVATED
Aside from the personal embarrassment, it was a complete
disaster. Paul scored 9.137 and plummeted to 12th place, an BY A HIGHER
enormous 0.63 points behind the new leader. It’s virtually
impossible to make up that kind of point deficit in gym- PURPOSE.”
nastics. TV commentators agreed that Paul’s chance for an
Olympic medal of any color was over. –Dr. Habib Sadeghi

Then something interesting happened. Paul’s perspec-
tive changed. Completely out of medal contention, his need just a perfect routine, he needed a score higher than
competing took on a higher purpose, one that was much his personal best, higher than he’d ever achieved on the
greater than winning for winning’s sake. His new goal was apparatus. While happy for Paul’s progress, TV commenta-
to redeem his reputation as the world’s greatest gymnast tors were being very realistic and encouraging the audience
and show the international audience what the spirit of not to get their hopes up.
sportsmanship is really about, regardless of the fact that he
wasn’t going to make the podium. Paul’s competition was Paul took to the bar and performed a flawless routine
now with himself. Could he pull his head together and give with three huge release skills, followed by a dismount that
good performances with just two rotations left? landed his feet so solidly on the mat that they might as
well have had magnets on the bottom, with no sign of the
Breakdown and Breakthrough slightest wobble. It was another routine of a lifetime. Even
then, Paul still wasn’t expecting to win. His was a personal

LIVING ON PURPOSE With Paul out of the way, his competitors began to focus victory, and that was enough for him. When his score of
9.837 was posted, he was absolutely shocked to realize he’d
on winning even more—some might say trying too hard.
How meaning matters in life, by Dr. Habib Sadeghi. Amazingly, they started making uncharacteristic mistakes, won the men’s gymnastics all-around Olympic gold medal
after all (the first American man to do so) and by just 0.012.
and lots of them. The new leader, China’s Yang Wei, lost
his grip and came off the high bar, a major mistake that Video of Paul’s amazing high bar routine is online, and I
earned him a devastating 8.987. In the meantime, Paul highly recommend watching it if you’re up against tough
Everyone loves a great comeback story. They help us be- and the favorite for the Olympic all-around gold medal. gave the best parallel bars routine of his life and earned the odds and need inspiration to keep going.
lieve anything is possible and inspire us to never give up, He’d already led the American men to a silver team med- second-highest score of the night with 9.837. As placements
even when the chances of success seem impossible. Dra- al, their first in 20 years. To say expectations of Paul were continued to shift, TV commentators began to speculate Intention Affects Outcome
matic comebacks against all odds remind us of what we high in Athens would be an understatement. that Paul might be able to win a bronze medal.
can achieve when we’re motivated by a higher purpose. Paul’s dramatic comeback win was an unforgettable
On the day of the competition, Paul got off to an excellent Next Marian Dragulescu of Romania hit his leg on the moment for him and the Olympics. It also stands as a
High Expectations start. His first rotation was floor exercise: 9.725 earned him parallel bars and stumbled through his landing for 9.437. reminder of what can happen when we’re motivated by
first place. Second rotation was pommel horse, and his Ioan Suciu, also from Romania, saw lots of errors add up a higher purpose. By that I mean striving to accomplish
One of the greatest comebacks in sports history happened score was 9.700; still first. Third rotation, still rings: 9.587, Photo by: Fabrizio Conti, courtesy of unsplash.com on parallel bars and earned just 9.312. Yang Tae Young something for reasons beyond material gain that benefit
during the men’s gymnastics all-around competition at the which was not great but still enough to hold first place of South Korea held back during a high bar routine with you and others in greater ways. When Paul’s purpose
2004 Olympic Games in Athens. American Paul Hamm based on his previous excellent performances. multiple mistakes that returned a score of only 9.475. changed from winning a gold medal to just doing his best
had grown up swinging from the rafters of his family’s and being an example of great sportsmanship, he did
barn in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and practicing gymnastics It’s important to understand that the scoring in gymnastics Paul was now in fourth place, and he was the last gymnast better than his best and won anyway. In contrast, as the
on a pommel horse his dad made out of logs from a maple is very exacting. The difference between placements is to compete in the final rotation. His score would determine other gymnasts became even more focused on getting the
tree. Now he was the reigning men’s gymnastics all-around regularly determined by hundredths of a point. There’s the medal standings. The event was high bar, and he was gold after Paul’s crash, their many mistakes only pushed
world champion (the first American man to win the title) virtually no room for error, even small ones. 0.313 behind the leader, Yang Tae Young. To win, he didn’t it further away from them. The fates of all the gymnasts

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