Emptiness Inside

Standing all alone, we watched

The winner of the gold,*

Who’d skated quite amazingly,

Her elegance extolled.

 

Her teammates sobbed and ranted

And the cameras caught it all

While the winner clutched a teddy bear

And listened to them bawl.

 

What should have been her moment

By her teammates was denied

And when asked her feelings, she described

“An emptiness inside.”

 

Disappointment in athletics

Is quite common to report,

But both doping and sore losing

Cast a shadow on the sport.

 

*In the women’s Olympic figure skating event