a system for joy and happiness

“Our system is not set up for success,” he said. “It’s more a system for joy and happiness, to have joy with your sport and first of all be healthy. And maybe that’s why we are so successful, because we really enjoy what we’re doing and it’s then easy to work hard — not every day but almost every day.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/02/15/norway-biathlon-medals-lead/

Then it came time to ask again about just how a small country reigns so, how it outpaces countries with much larger contingents and countries with much similar climates. There’s the Norwegian thing about not keeping score of the games of small children, and the thing about a system that emphasizes the overall health of the human athlete, and the thing about not paying medal winners because it might beget suboptimal motives, and the thing about not running around the world crowing.

There’s Ruud after his freestyle gold early in these Games, speaking of his father who died last April: “It’s hard to say what he would have said, but I believe he’s really proud that I skied, that I did this for the right reasons, not really for the result but more for the sport, the love of the sport. I didn’t start skiing to end up with this [medal], but I started skiing because that’s what I love and that’s what he wanted me to do, so I think he would be really proud.”

There’s Roisland, who was “blown away” by his snowboarding result Tuesday: “It’s hard to explain Norway’s success. We’re not many people, but we’re a people with passion. [There are] so many athletes out of Norway, and it’s so impressive and inspiring to see what everyone does to be here and be part of the crew.”