msabaye

Winning or losing by a fraction of a second: how meaningful is this ranking of the first, second, and third place in the Olympics Games?

I have all the respect for human body to excel and for human beings to compete in a healthy way, but the results of many of the games make me think: is there any meaning to these at all? If one athlete loses a competition by a fraction of a second or an epsilon of difference in weight or length, couldn't the difference in the results be due to the wind, a breeze, or ... It is hard to imagine the results as the proper reflection of the superiority of one athlete's ability to the other.  

It is interesting to watch athletes over the podium with tears in their eyes; I guess part of the equation is just being there, trying so hard to get there, and finally ending there, but the ranking often leaves me uneasy. I feel bad for the second or third place winner who seem to lose the first place by so very little.

Well, it doesn't seem fair. Perhaps there should be a small range within which everyone is in the first place or group/category ranking. When differences are so minuscule, the comparison cannot safely reflect differences in abilities. And the placing and ranking doesn't seem to make much sense.