„David Popovici left us without a medal!”

During a broader discussion, from the point of view of the participants (human, of course), the information emerged that David Popovici will not compete in the 50-meter event at the World Swimming Championships, after pulling hard in the 200 and 100. Someone exclaimed: "He left us without a medal". I reflected a little and realized that in fact he left us without several, including the world title in football. For our sake, he should prepare intensely and compete in gymnastics, athletics, fencing, cycling and be the leader of the national football team. We would exclaim more often, "I got another medal". And what does he do? He is content with two or three swimming events.

This reaction reveals how much we have come to confuse individual performance with a national obligation. Popovici becomes, in the public perception, not just an exceptional athlete, but a source of validation, a duty hero, always in debt. The fact that he chooses not to compete in an event becomes almost a betrayal. It doesn't matter if the decision comes from strategic reasons, physical exhaustion or simply respect for his own limits - he must bring us a medal. We do not assume the weaknesses of an unbalanced sports system, lacking infrastructure, support and vision, we prefer to put all our hopes in a brilliant young man, as in a lifeline that must save us from collapsing into absolute mediocrity. We ask him for the impossible and then get angry when he does not give it to us.

David Popovici did not leave us without a medal. He has already given us more than we could have hoped for: elegance, discipline, modesty and performance. He doesn't owe us anything, we owe him the peace of mind to build his career according to his own criteria, not our hunger for glory. And if we want more medals, maybe it's time to start with the question: what are we doing for sport?

PS: David Popovici a câştigat "doar" două medalii de aur la CM de nataţie!