This morning in the Wall Street Journal a writer named Hannah Karp wrote about how it would be great if the Olympics gave medals for losing and mentioned which countries have finished last in the medal count over the years. She picked on in particular, a Polish female speedskater, calling her and her fellow countrymen 'laggards' who should get medals for last place. She then wrote, "There are growing numbers of Olympic fans who feel that winning is overrated." Aside from Ms. Karp being slapped by General Patton or screamed at by Vince Lombardi in years past let us analyze the Olympic winners and losers and what they have in common.

First, let us look at the total number of athletes participating compared to the total population of each of the countries those athletes represent. Just the fact that they are the BEST in their country and are sent to represent that country on a worldwide stage is a great accomplishment. Participating is great, and winning is even better. There was a country that not too long ago finished close to the bottom in the medal standings in the winter olympics but athletes from that country still competed and improved and eventually that country moved its way up the medals count with the efforts of Bonnie Blair, Tara Lapinski, Bode Miller, Eric Heiden, Tommy Moe, Bill Johnson, Kristy Yamaguchi, the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team, and countless others that trained and gave their sport all the time and effort that they had. Until the author of this article can go out and compete shoulder to shoulder with the Polish speedskater the author choose to mock at the beginning of this article she should think about whether she is competent enough in any sport to compete at a worldwide level in that sport - then maybe she could write intelligently about the athletes competing in the Olympics right now. And perhaps Ms. Karp should watch as Justyna Kowalczyk skis the 15K cross country race before she discounts Poland as a country of worthwhile competitors.