Striving To Be Number One

For as far back as he could remember, Trevor had wanted to be the best. He always wanted to be Number One, no matter what it took. In his mind, second position only meant first loser. The term ‘runner-up’ was simply not part of his vocabulary.

Trevor was born into a family of winners. His father, a decorated soldier, had gone on to become a seasoned politician after leaving the army. His mother was a stage actress who had won countless theatrical awards. Even his paternal and maternal grandparents were famous for one thing or another. So, when Trevor started school and it soon became apparent that he was a talented athlete, the pressure was on!

It all began when Trevor was six years old and in Grade 1. It was the annual school Sports Day. This day was all about fun and not about winning at all. Well, that’s what the school principal and all the teachers said! That’s what all the parents discussed as they chatted amongst themselves.

But not for young Trevor. In his six-year-old mind, his goal was to leave his fellow runners in the dust. His dad was the best, he thought to himself, his mum was the best, and so were his granddad and grand mum. That meant he had to be the best too!

“Runners … take your marks … get ready, set, go!” Parents cheered their children on, teachers clapped their hands with joy. Trevor ran with tunnel vision, unable to see or even hear the cheering and clapping of the crowds. The only sound he could hear was the trampling of his feet on the grass … and those of his fellow runners behind him. Trevor won the race by a mile. He had done it! From that day on, he vowed to himself that he would win every race he ever entered. When he saw his parents after the race, they looked so happy. Trevor figured that his win must be the reason.

Fast forward to the senior high school track meet. Besides his natural running talent, Trevor was also naturally intelligent and found school work a breeze. As he did not have to put too much effort into his studies to do well, he could really focus on his track training. He would train every day, but was never satisfied with his running times, even though he had successfully broken every previous record in his age group, from Grade 2 all the way up to Grade 12.

The high school track meet was attended by the biggest and best university scouts. It was Trevor’s mission to have the pick of the top five universities. In his mind, he was unstoppable and unbeatable.

Sailing effortlessly through all the heats without so much as breaking a sweat, Trevor made it through to the final. He was now officially one of the best eight runners in the country! Obviously, the university scouts weren’t too concerned with whether Trevor came first or not. His track record meant that his reputation had already been established as one of the – if not the best – runners in the country. But this made no difference to him. In his mind, he had to be number one if he was to make his mom and dad proud of him, to make them smile the way they had that day back when he was in Grade 1.

The starter pistol fired and they were off. Trevor ran with tunnel vision as usual, but this time, something felt different. Instead of hearing the footsteps of all the other runners behind him, he heard the sound of a pair of feet pounding along in front of him. How could this be? Surely not! He tried to pick up his pace, as his coach had trained him to do, but just as he was about to pass his opponent, the other runner cleared the finish line. It was a photo finish.

Trevor could not believe it. He had come in second! Even though his parents were beaming with joy as usual, he took that to be false joy, designed to make him feel better for not coming first. He promised himself that this would never, ever happen again!

Even though he had only taken second place, Trevor was still awarded an Athletics Scholarship at the best university in the country. This university was actually ranked amongst the Top 10 in the world. Trevor graduated with his university degree and promptly set himself a new goal. He would win medals in both the Olympic Games and the World Championships. Not only did he want to win Gold in both these events, but he also wanted to beat the existing records in both events, just as he had done as a schoolboy.

Trevor’s obsession with winning started to affect his relationship with his mum and dad. Although they had never forcibly put pressure on him to win, and all of the intense pressure he felt was self-inflicted, his relationship with his parents began to deteriorate. At a family meeting one night, his grandparents and parents sat him down and let him know that they would always be proud of him, no matter what. They gently told him that there was no need to put so much pressure on himself. But their words only made Trevor feel as if he was a failure, as he continued to compare his own accomplishments to theirs. After all, his mum had won every award category that she had been nominated for! His dad, a successful politician with not one black mark against his name, had also enjoyed an exemplary career in the military as a soldier. If he himself finished only second or third, would they still be proud of him? Not a chance!

The Olympic Games rolled around and Trevor fulfilled both his ambitions, winning his gold medal and also beating the Olympic record. His mum and dad were there to cheer him on as usual, but this time their smiles were not as broad as normal and didn’t quite reach their eyes. Trevor told himself that this was because he had only beaten the Olympic record by 1.5 seconds. Little did he know that his parents’ apprehension was actually due to their worry about his obsessive nature. Unable to understand their reaction and believing he had failed them, Trevor promised himself: “When I compete in the World Championships, I will beat the World Record by 2.5 seconds! That is sure to make them happy again, and make them smile the way they did all those years ago when I was a 6-year-old in Grade 1.”

As the World Championships approached, Trevor began to feel a slight twinge in his calf when he was training, and mentioned this to his coach. His conversation was overheard by one of the assistant coaches, who approached Trevor and told him about a drug he could take that would fast-track the healing of his calf muscle. He assured Trevor that the drug was 100% legal and was also undetectable in any urine or blood sample. All Trevor needed to do was pay him a specified amount of money, and he would sort out the rest.

The championships were just around the corner and Trevor, knowing that he would never be able to win the race with his calf injury, put the cash together, handed it over to the assistant coach and took the drug.

Lo and behold, the drug worked like a charm! Trevor won gold and beat the record by 2.5 seconds, just as he had promised himself he would. But his initial euphoria was short-lived. Trevor was summoned for a routine drug test. He tested positive for an illegal drug in his system and was disqualified from the race. Besides losing his medal, Trevor was also banned from competing in athletics for the rest of his life.

As a result of one hasty, split-second decision, Trevor’s career in athletics was over and his reputation ruined. All the years of training, early morning starts and pushing himself to the limit were wasted.

But the worst part for Trevor was that never again would he get the opportunity to see the broad smiles on his parents’ faces that he had tried so hard to produce. Never again would his parents smile the same way they had that day all those years ago when he had won his first race.

If only Trevor had realised that the smiles his parents had worn that day were not because their son had been ‘Number One’. They were the genuine smiles of loving parents, who were proud of their son no matter what.

THE END