American skier Julia Mancuso won bronze in the women's super combined on Monday, and she was very excited.
The super combined consists of one downhill run and one slalom run. Mancuso was a huge underdog because she never competes in slalom. Since 2012 she has participated in one World Cup slalom event, and failed to qualify for the final.
Despite all that, she gave herself a shot at a medal in Sochi with a blistering downhill run Monday morning. She was much slower than her competitors in the slalom, but hung on to win bronze.
She was PUMPED. Winning a bronze medal is an exercise in adjusting expectations. The disparity between winning a medal and not winning a medal in the Olympics is larger than the disparity between the medals themselves.
You always want to come in first, but there's a unique joy in the bronze. Proof:
BBC
Nothing like a bronze:
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images