He wears ear rings, has a vision, and although he’s raw (he’s only playing a few months), he is extremely talented, yet humble. It was a real pleasure meeting him and chatting with him at The Rugby Business Network.

My name is Carlin Isles and I’m with the USA rugby team.

How did you get into rugby? I was running track professional, getting ready for the Olympic trials in June and …I came across rugby. I wasn’t really paying too much attention to it. Then I clicked on it. Started watching it. I rang the CEO of American Rugby (Nigel Melville*) emailed him, got in contact with him the next morning, and, four days later, I upped and left and started playing rugby.

So when was this? June 2012.

And here we are in the spring/summer 2013. You’re playing for America in the Rugby 7s. What’s that like? It’s great. It’s a blessing. Great team mates; great players and great human beings. We fit together. It’s a lot of competition and hard work but I love it.

Your background is a different sport, several different sports. Rugby is a new sport for you. What made you say that you ‘want to have a go.’ I had a dream. My vision. I wanted to inspire people. I decided to have a go at it. Take a leap of faith and it’s paying off.

Since you’ve joined the rugby brotherhood, are there any differences between it and other sports? The brotherhood of rugby is different. It’s more closer. Everyone is friendly and everyone is looking after each other.They’re all supportive of you. They help you back. No egos. No bodies in it for themselves. They’re in for each other.

Is sportsmanship important? Sportsmanship is very important. And one thing about me …I have the integrity and show sportsmanship. Even if I don’t score, I give the guy, whose been chasing me, the defender, I give him a hug and even a smile and whatever and tell him ‘good job’. It’s very important for the game and the community to show class.

Have you seen any other acts of sportsmanship? American football

I notice moments of sportsmanship especially at the games, guys talk, tell each other ‘good job’ any other sport, track, football, basketball, baseball, a lot of the teams, a lot of the teams show this…. Sportsmanship is a big deal.

Carlin, you play rugby with freedom and enjoyment, which is lacking in the game today, and that’s why The Great Sportsmanship Programme wants to show you to the rest of the world because you play with a smile on your face, you give a hand shake and boy are you a great runner, so good luck with your rugby career. We wish you all of the best.

Thank you . God bless.

God bless.

Watch Carlin In Action – just sit back & enjoy these clips

*Note 1: Nigel Melville, former English Rugby team captain, now Rugby USA CEO said. “Great Moments of Sportsmanship is a book where super-humans become human, where the values of respect and consideration for fellow athletes rises above the need to win.” Nigel Melville, former English Rugby team captain, now Rugby USA CEO.

Note 2: Thanks to Colm Hannon and The Rugby Business Network for organising a great evening (including great speakers: Carlin, Zin Zan Brooke and Chris Cracknell).

See other sports celebrities talking about sportsmanship

Tags: Carlin Isles, Sprinters, Rugby USA, 7s Rugby, Olympics, Olympic Rugby, Sportsmanship, Sprint, Sprinting, Sprinter, 100m, Brotherhood

Category: Rugby, Athletics, USA

“Why’s that?’ I ask.

“Oh,” he says, “he’s a fantastic sportsman himself. He plays Gaelic and Hurling for Limerick.”

“Really”  I said “That’s interesting – what’s his name?”

“Lucey” he says.

“Not Stephen Lucey” I said

“Yes” he says with a smile “Why?”

“I’ve written a story about him. Well actually, about your Dad. In fact, it was, actually, about a stranger who helped your Dad when his car broke down in Borrisokane, County Tipperary, as your Dad was driving to Dublin to see your brother play in the All Ireland Final in Croke Park in 2007.”

“Go away” says the brother (David Lucey, on the left in the photo)

“Yes! Did your Dad’s car break down on the long drive to Dublin to see Limerick play Kilkenny (the hot favourites)? And poor oul’ Limerick hadn’t won an All Ireland Final in your brother’s lifetime (the last win was 1973). And your Dad was banging on a stranger’s door in search of  help.”

“I didn’t know about the car. I’ll have to ask him” says David.

“Do” I said “and tell him if he can find that friendly stranger who loaned him his car – I’ll send your Dad a signed copy of the Great Moments Of Sportsmanship book so that your Dad could, perhaps, give the book to the stranger as a special thanks for his mighty kindness.”

“I’ll ask him” says David.

This is a live unfolding story. We’ll see what happens next. David, if you are out there, let me know. And Stephen, congrats on your many successes and commiserations on that All Ireland Final. Do tell us any sportsmanship stories. Did any thing else happen on the day of this final?

Excerpt from the Great Moments Of Sportsmanship book:

An All Ireland hurling final in Croke Park is played in front of more than 82,000 fans. Hurling is one of Ireland’s two sporting crown jewels that the rest of the world has never discovered. It’s an ancient, amateur game and a deep part of Irish culture. It is the fastest field game in the world. The other sport is Gaelic Football (a fast and furious version of rugby and football mixed together).

Hurling requires hugely skilful, savagely fit and totally brave players, not to mention commitment, technique and tactics. Hurling and Gaelic Football regularly attracts bigger crowds than the English premiership professional matches.

The best of all the 32 counties in Ireland compete against each other. By time the semi finals come around the country is seething with interest and intrigue. By the time the final comes around, tickets are gold dust. Packed crowds travel to see one of the world’s most intense sports on one of the world’s finest stages, Dublin’s Croke Park.

Limerick had not won an All Ireland Hurling final since 1973. And they had suffered since: losing the 1974, 1981, 1994 and 1996 finals (as well as a semi final in 1980). Their hunger to win an All Ireland Final was great. The feeling was good. The whole county was on the move (except Mr. Lucey  senior) until……

“The stranger gave Mr. Lucey the keys of his own car and told him to take it, drive to see his son play and return the car as soon as he could”

Note:

See 2012 All Ireland Final Crowd Atmosphere & a sublime sportsmanship moment (caught on camera) from one of the youngest, if not the youngest, player in the All Ireland Final last year – called ‘Dignity In Defeat’.

The great thing about the Welsh crowd is that they sing the Irish National Anthem louder than we do. They are passionate about their rugby but always demonstrate great sportsmanship – regardless of the score. So many of them were able to smile, stick out a hand and congratulate Ireland on a great win. Here’s a few photos…..(please do post a comment).

Sportsmanship is important

because it is why we all get involved in sports, at the first stage of our lives because it teaches you values – in the proper way. It teaches you how to do the Kipling quote …’

“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same”

How to react to victory

Right from the word go you are taught to how to react to defeat. How to react to victory. And it’s in every sport. You know my sport is rugby, and whether it be clapping the winning team off and the losing team doing the same thing. You always shake hands with the opposition. You treat the referee with respect. Right from the word go you are taught the right values.

Never take it for granted

You should never take these things (sportsmanship) for granted. These things pass on generation-ally – they do – but you can also teach them.

The value of the Great Sportsmanship Programme is, (you know we talked earlier about) what sportsmanship is and the values it teaches you. You can never ever take it for granted.

What do people identify with?

What do people identify with? They identify with the superstars, the people they look up to. And whether, its reading the book (Great Moments Of Sportsmanship) and looking back at the annals of history and actually seeing how people have demonstrated sportsmanship even within the most critical & crucial moments of massive matches and sporting occasions. Don’t take it for granted that people know about these things. Give them something tangible.

People learn in different ways.

Sometimes that learning is visual and sometimes it’s through the written word. This (Great Sportsmanship Programme) is just a way of reaching out to a lot of people with great stories, which actually we’ve probably lived through, but, they (younger people) haven’t & it’s teaching them that.

Cater for different learning styles

It (The Great Sportsmanship Programme) caters for all sorts of learning/educational styles – whether that be webinar, whether it be book, be video whether it be, you know, on the pitch so to speak. And that’s what makes it great. But that’s the way you have to do it. You can’t expect of people to learn in the same way And you can’t go into a room and expect of 40 or 50 people to learn in the same way. You have to reach out to them in different ways – or else you will lose some of them and that is not what you want to do.

The people who succeed at the very highest level

are probably, a lot of the time, are the ones who demonstrate the greatest amount of sportsmanship. So it’s a huge thing.

Jason Robinson (AKA ‘Billy Whiz’) English rugby league and union hero agrees with Conor. he believes the game is fast and hard but players must always shale hands and socialise afterwards:

Jason is right the game is hard.  Here’s someone who understood hardness yet put it in perspective with his unique descriptions. The late great Bill McLaren was called ‘the voice of rugby’ because of comments like this:

“Big Vleis Visagie – born when meat was cheap!”

“He’s no oil painting, but look at him working the blind side like a pop-up toaster!” (Andre Venter)

“Wade Dooley the big Blackpool policeman standing like a lighthouse at the back of the lineout”

“There he goes – South Africa’s rhino!” (Os du Randt)

“Hands like dinner plates!” (Finlay Calder)

“When he hits you, you think the roof has just fallen in.” (Scott Gibbs)

“There’s the Quinnell brothers – two well-nourished individuals”

“They will be dancing in the streets tonight.”

For more see 60 Of The Best quotes from the late great Bill McLaren

Conor O’Shea is an icon of sporting success. He is also an  ambassador for The Great Sportsmanship Programme.  Here he talks about why sportsmanship is so important and how the Great Sportsmanship helps people everywhere.
Conor won 36 caps for Ireland at full back before injury curtailed his playing years. Having represented University College Dublin, Lansdowne, Leinster and London Irish, his playing career was curtailed prematurely through an ankle injury. He served London Irish as player, captain, Director of Rugby and finally Managing Director before moving on to become Director of RFU Regional Academies (2005), National Director English Institute Of Sport (2008) and Director Of Rugby, Harlequins RFC (2010). In his first full season Harlequins won its first ever English Premiereship. Since the London 2012 Olympics, Conor has been recruited onto an Olympic review panel for British Swimming to identify areas for improvement. He is also TV pundit for RTE TV. He has a B.Com (Banking & Finance), Diploma in Legal Studies and a Masters in Sport Science.

Full 6 Nations Rugby 2013 Fixture List plus 6 Nations 2012 Table and Results plus  some Bill McLaren Gems

2013 Fixtures + 2012 Results + Bill McLaren Quotes – click link below

6 Nations Rugby 2013 Fixtures plus 2012 Results plus Bill McLaren Gems

Nelson Mandela said ‘Sport has the power to change the world’. His words are true. We’ve seen it ourselves. When young people hear these true two minute stories about inspirational sportsmanship moments from the Premiere League football, the 6 Nations Rugby, Hurling or Gaelic Games, or The Olympics, they just feel good about themselves, and the world we live in. They also start to share stories, discuss them, ‘like’ them and thereby, often unknowingly, learn to improve their reading and writing skills i.e. boost their literacy as well as boosting their behaviour via sportsmanship values. ‘We’ve had students reading this book that never read a book before’ a teacher told me. Then another and another….

So The Great Sportsmanship Educational Programme is up and running. Please do contact us if you know a school or educational body that wants to use this to boost literacy and behaviour through sportsmanship.  It’s 2013 – time for some new resolutions!

10.      Golf –  Young American’s  Honesty Of The Highest Order  

November:  A young American golfer traded his lifetime dream for honour & integrity. Blayne Barber, finally qualified to play on the PGA tour. His dream had come true. However, he thought he accidentally moved a leaf while playing out of a bunker. No one saw it. He asked his caddie and others, they said no he was fine. But he wasn’t happy. So he penalised himself 1 shot. He still qualified, (and still won by 4 shots) but as he drove home he realised it should have been a 2 shot penalty so he phoned in and disqualified himself.  Honourable Young Golfer Throws Away His PGA Dream

Golfing Dream Is Lost

9.      Tennis – Spanish    Friendship Despite Defeat

January: Despite losing an epic Australian Open Final lasting 5 hours and 53 minutes, Spain’s Rafal Nadal wore a beautiful smile. At 2am in Melbourne he addressed the packed arena by saying with great humour: “Good morning! First I would like to congratulate him (Djokovic). I thank the ball boys, the umpires, the sponsors and so on ……“I will never forget this game even though I lost it.”

8.      Boat Race  -  Oxford Lose With Honour

April: When a swimming protester interrupted the oldest boat race in the world, the race had to be restarted. Soon after there was a clash of blades (oars) which snapped an Oxford oar. Severely hampered, they limped on refusing to give up. Cambridge won easily. If Oxford decided to stop racing Cambridge would still be winners but the race would be recorded as ‘race not completed’.  Oxford insisted in finishing the race.

7.      Football – Spanish Captain’s Humility & Respect

July:   During the final minutes of the Euro 2012 Final, you can hear, on video, the Spanish captain, Casillas, asking the referee to end the game early – out of respect for Italy as Spain look like scoring a 5th goal against 10 man Italy. He didn’t want to start celebrating Spain’s winning of the Euro 2012, he simply respected Italy too much to insult them with another goal and a record defeat. Spanish Flair & Great Sportsmanship Prevail

Football Humility

6.   Speed Skating – Canadians & Americans Celebrate Greatness

October:  Despite America being the arch enemy on ice, for all Canadians, when American JR Celski broke the speed skating world record by becoming  the first man ever to skate 500m in under 40 seconds, the  whole Canadian stadium erupted in celebration  - the American fans, the Canadian fans, the coaches, the competitors even the stewarts cheered and whooped – they all recognised greatness and applauded it regardless. Opposition Fans Cheer New World Record 

5.    Cricket -   South African Respect

December: When Australia’s captain, Ricky Ponting, walked out for the last time in his test cricket career, the whole  South African team formed a guard of honour and applauded him. Ponting scored 13,378 from 168 test matches (only one other man on the planet who has scored more test runs – India’s Sachin Tendulkar). A magical moment of Respect.

South African Respect

4.    Snooker –   Fair Play from A Welsh Dragon

May: Amidst the intensity of a World Snooker Championship semi-final, Mathew Stevens (previously beaten in 2 finals and 3 semi-finals & his first semi-final since 2005) showed great sportsmanship when he declared a foul on himself when he barely double hit the ball by accident. No one saw it including referee Brendan Moore and opposition, Ronnie O’Sullivan. However, Stevens insisted on declaring it.  O’Sullivan tapped the table with his cue in applause for Stevens sportsmanship.

 
3.     Baseball   - American Respect & Friendliness

May: 28 year old baseball pitcher for Detroit Tigers, Armando Gallaraga, pitched ‘the perfect game’ – a feat accomplished by only 20 other pitchers ever – BUT unfortunately the umpire made a terrible mistake and disallowed it. The perfect game is when the pitcher pitches a victory  and  faces 27 batters in 9 innings and none of them get to 1^st base.  Gallaraga said afterwards  ‘Nobody’s perfect. Everybody makes mistakes’ and shook hands with the umpire.

2.     Athletics – Jamaican & British Athletes’ Enjoyment

August: So many Olympic moments from Nicola Adams’s radiant smile to the whole stadia packed with smiling spectators cheering on great performances regardless of which country.  We were posting up to 3 stories a day on the Great Sportsmanship facebook page during the Olympics. The Iconic moment when Mo Farah & Usain Bolt imitated each other. Both with big smiles enjoying themselves, doing what they love and remembering to have some fun.

Olympics Enjoyment – A Celebration Of Fun, Sport & Culture

1.      Golf  –   American Friendliness & Respect

Sep: The Ryder Cup is unique in sport. The world’s best pro’s compete for no money – just pride. They  actually shake with nerves when they play in the Ryder cup. There’s an awful lot of emotion and history attached to this competition. The European team invoked the spirit of the late great, Seve Ballestos. Captain, Jose Maria Olazabal, talked about Seve’s passion in his team talks. The team wore navy blue jumpers and white shirts with a silhouette of Seve on the sleeve. When they won Jose said “All men die but not all live…you made me feel alive again this week’.  There were many moments of sportsmanship during the 3 day epic battle (see original post).   But this next moment caught the eye…….

When Justin Rose sunk a huge putt on the 17^th, the camera just catches a subtle moment, America’s Phil Mickleson smiling and giving Just Rose a very clear thumbs up.

The Ryder Cup

Tell us your favourite sportsmanship story from 2012. Add it here, as a comment (see below) or visit our facebook page, Great Sportsmanship . And here’s wishing you many more wonderful sportsmanship experiences in 2013. Say ‘Yes’ to Great Sportsmanship.  finally, please do consider making a new year pledge – become a sportsmanship ambassador and promote this programme /sportsmanship wherever and whenever you can.

Backstage London 2012 and the volunteers’ after party with the athletes

So here’s what it was like to be a volunteer. To give up your time for, long hours, exhausting days and  no pay. Buy hey, “It felt amazing…… it was literally just sparkly and shiny and bright and loud…the music…everyone was pumped (‘excited’)…everyone was shouting..you didn’t see an unhappy face….everyone was smiling……everyone was so energetic….everyone just came together…..and it was like a big Olympic family really!” said volunteer, Victoria Irving from the University Of East London.

Here’s Victoria’s story that she’ll pass onto her children and her children’s children……You can too……pass it on…..

Backstage London 2012 – Volunteer Pride (video)

What was it like when you walked into the (unfinished) stadium?

First thing was just wow – really. When we got there, they were still building it.  So it was nice to actually sit there and watch all the workers put it together while we were there and rehearsing around everyone (including)  the contractors and getting to see it (literally)  build up (basically).

What was it like when you walked into the (packed) stadium?

“It was literally just sparkly and shiny and bright and loud…the music…everyone was pumped (‘excited’)…everyone was shouting..you didn’t see an unhappy face….everyone was smiling…everyone was so energetic….everyone just came together….

Backstage Olympic 2012 One Big Olympic Family (video)

Any special moments come to mind?

It would have to be just putting on our bibs, first of all. We had to wear bib numbers and then getting our flags and meeting the athletes as well at the end. We got to have a little secret party with them in the stadium at the end. …..

Before the Olympics we made a video which asked the question: ‘Anyone For Olympism?‘. Looking back now, we can say ‘yes’ everyone, it seemed, was for Olympism. The friendly atmosphere was infectious. Athletes displayed great sportsmanship. The crowd displayed great sportsmanship.  For more than two weeks sport and sportsmanship  brought  the world together and generations will remember London 2012 as ‘The Friendly Olympics’.

Note 1:  TEDxTallaght Video called ‘How Sportsmanship Can Save The World‘ proves that sportsmanship can stop wars and boost diplomatic relations (15 mins).

Note 2:  The Campaign For Courtesy also lent its full support to the volunteers.

See also:  Anyone For Olympism?  which explains the whole Great Sportsmanship (educational) Programme in a spectaculor 4 minute video.

American Dignity In Defeat
The American captain, Davis Love, responded with: “To captain Olazabal and the 12 men on your team, my heartfelt congratulations. Well done.”

Immediately after the Ryder Cup was over the opposition captains embraced each other after historic victory for Europe (who were losing heavily going into the 3rd & final day).

 
Tribute To A Fallen Hero Who Still Inspires All
The Europeans wore navy blue jumpers and white shirts with a silhouette of Seve Ballesteros on the sleeve, in honour of Spain’s great player who died last year (five-time major winner, former Ryder Cup winning captain), he expanded the Ryder Cup to include European players in 1979. Ballesteros played in the Ryder Cup eight times and captained the side to victory in 1997 on home soil.

Justin Rose, who came from behind on the 16th to birdie the last two holes and beat America’s Phil Mickelson on the 18th, said: “In the moment you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, but as soon as I holed that putt [on the 18th], as soon as I came off the green, my first thought has been to Seve. I had a glance down and looked at my left sleeve and that’s the kind of stuff he would have done. He’s been an inspiration for this team all week long.”

Spain’s Sergio Garcia was also emotional “I have no doubt in my mind that he (Seve) was with me all day because there’s no chance I would have won my match if he wasn’t there.”

Golf’s many challenges including playing against yourself

Great Sportsmanship Moments
There were many moments of great sportsmanship amidst this highly emotional competition e.g. when Justin Rose sunk a huge putt on the 17th America’s Phil Mickleson gave him a very clear thumbs up. Wonderful moment.

In a separate match, after a great 2nd shot on the 16th, Europe’s Ian Poulter asked the crowd to be quiet again so that USA’s Webb Simpson could take his shot.

Europe’s Lee Westwood was forced to putt his 12” putt on the 18th by America’s Matt Kuchar.  Players often ‘give’ each other a short putt (or allow the putt i.e. assume he would get it and not actually ask the player to putt it). The classic being Jack Nicklaus allowing UK’s Tony Jacklin a final two foot putt back in 1969*. Westwood said he was shaking with nerves when he took the putt. After he successfully putted it and won the match Westwood and Kuchar shook hands and embraced each other warmly. Westwood said if the roles were reversed he would have done the same – i.e. he would have asked Kuchar to putt the pressure short putt. Extraordinary is an over-used word, but, this was truly extraordinary turn-around from being 10-6 behind on the last day to winning 13.5 – 14.5.

The Much Sought After Ryder Cup

Once again, America’s captain, Davis Love, was most gracious and also remembered the great Spanish golfer in the sky, Seve Ballesteros, when he said:
“I congratulate them all including Seve.”

See other Great Ryder Cup Sportsmanship Stories in   Will The Ryder Cup Unveil Real Sportsmanship?

* See the  the full Nicklaus v Jacklin magical moment back in 1969 in the Great Moments Of Sportsmanship eBook.

Can men win medals for merely writing words?

Can a man throwing a javelin stop a war?

Can enemies become friends, at least every 4 years?

The answer is simply ‘yes’.

They already have – many, many times.

For more than a thousand years. …….it’s to do with Olympism the real meaning of the Olympics. Watch the video and please share it/pass the link on to as many people as you can so that as many people will understand why the opening and closing ceremonies are such lavish affairs and the impact the Olympics can have on world peace. Please also post a comment – whatever your reaction is – we want to hear it.

See also

‘London 2012 Olympics – Anyone For Olympism?’ for more plus some great photos of the Olympic Park & St Pancras Station

How London 2012 Became ‘The Friendly Olympics’ for backstage photographs showing what went on backstage and video interviews of how the volunteers had fun with the athletes.

“Right I’m going to try this and it’s not going to be easy…..” he swallowed tears, gasped for air & composure. “Firstly I’d like to congratulate Roger, mmmm (fighting the tears) …I was getting asked the other day after I won my semi finals, ‘is this your best chance …you know Roger is 30 now?’……well…he’s not bad for a 30 year old. He played a great tournament though he had some struggles earlier on with his back. He showed what a fight he still has left in him. Congratulations you deserve it.” In the audience stood the world’s greatest tennis player, former multiple champion, Rod Laver who was also in tears.

Nice guys do come first

Britain did have a winner in the men’s double, as Jonathan Marray (GB) & Frederik Nielsen (Den) won won the men’s doubles but not before Marray called a foul on himself, in the final, when his racket touched the net although the umpire didn’t see it. Nice guys do come first.

He seemed happier

Arguably the world’s greatest women’s tennis players, Martina Navratalova, commented the previously week that “Andy Murray does seem to be happier. He’s happy and it pays off’.” He made it to his first Wimbledon final. Happiness or Enjoyment is one of the 7 Pillars Of Sportsmanship.

 The Pillars Of Sportsmanship (download from Spread The Moment)

You Can’t Tell Whether He Won or Lost

Multi-Major winner & American tennis champion, Jim Courier, once said, “Sportsmanship for me is when a guy walks off the court and you really can’t tell whether he won or lost, when he carries himself with pride either way.” Look at the photos of Murray & Federo it’s hard to say whether Murray won or lost. See our facebook post

Nadal’s sportsmanship

When the World Number 2, Rafael Nadal, was well beaten by the relatively unknown but absolutely brilliant, Lukas Rosol, Nadal being a great sportsman himself, later applauded the young Czech by saying: “In the fifth set he played more than unbelievable.”

Roddick’s sportsmanship

Although Andy Roddick beat Britain’s 200+ ranked outsider, Jamie Baker, in 3 straight sets Roddick spent most of his post-match interview applauding Baker. “Jamie played really well out there. I was not comfortable at any point” said Roddick as he admired the relatively unknown underdog who really did play some great tennis too.

Bad tennis sportsmanship loses 

Yes a lack of sportsmanship can seriously hurt people, lose a match, be booed by the crowd and get fined – it just ain’t worth it – David Nalbandian kicks advertising hoarding in Queen’s club tennis final disqualified after the incident, which left an official nursing a bloody leg. The trophy was handed to his opponent, Marin Cilic of Croatia. Please read our Code Of Conduct and win games, competition, prizes, admiration whilst enjoying yourself!

Stop War, Start Tennis
Although they didn’t play together in Wimbledon this year, we have covered Aisam and Rohan (they call themselves the ‘Indo-Pak Express’ as) as they wear their “Stop War, Start Tennis” slogan on their tracksuits. Representing India and Pakistan, they really do unite two countries and promote peace in a beautiful way.  (See our  full story ) Remember ‘Sport Can Change The World’.

Enjoy every second

Finally, here’s some wise words, which apply to all sports from a great world tennis champion, Martina Navratalvoa; “The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else.”