The soft pillow on which helplessness lies

The results obtained by Romanian athletes at the Milan Olympics fall within the usual line. No surprises, no terrible disappointments, just participation.

"The important thing is to participate, not to win” is a famous unofficial motto of the modern Olympic Games, taken over by Pierre de Coubertin from a bishop of Pennsylvania. The Olympic motto about the beauty of participation was designed to ennoble sport, not to justify mediocrity. For us, however, it has become, for years, a comfortable screen, a soft pillow on which helplessness, lack of strategy and eternal improvisation lie quietly.

However, for our delegation, a few questions arise: how important is just participating? What is the role of naturalizations? Let's give an example: our athletes imported from Russia, Dmitrii Shamaev and Anastasia Tolmacheva, achieved 38th and 56th places in the pursuit events of the biathlon competition.

Romania does not go to the Winter Olympics to matter. Nor has it ever mattered. It goes to be present in the photo. To check off its presence. So that it can say, with a satisfied air, that "the objective was achieved": participation, experience, self-improvement. Beautiful terms, but empty, when the rankings are constantly lost in the second half of the hierarchies.

The problem is not that the athletes finish in 38th or 56th places. The problem is that no one seems scandalized by it anymore. Failure no longer produces reactions, no longer raises questions, no longer forces change. And naturalizations, often presented as quick solutions, only serve to emphasize even more the emptiness behind it: the lack of a system that produces real performance. We import athletes to actually import the illusion of progress, but the results remain the same: modest, without impact, without echo.

At the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Romania is participating with a delegation of 29 athletes, and the main objective was to obtain competitive rankings (top 10-15 in certain events) and gain experience, according to the announcements of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee (COSR). The general objective: the athletes' self-improvement and obtaining superior results to previous editions, under the motto "Up Romania".

When the official objective becomes "top 10-15 in certain events", we are no longer talking about ambition, but about managing expectations at a comfortable low level. It is an elegant way of saying: we cannot win, we aim not to be last.

This type of participation does not inspire anyone. It does not bring children to clubs, it does not create role models, it does not ignite the public's imagination. Because young people do not dream of participating. They dream of winning.