No Gold for India in hockey, but Bronze medalists are happier than those with Silver

Winning is nice, and so is not losing but the biggest medal is happiness.

On Wednesday, the Indian women's hockey team lost to World No 2 Argentina in their maiden Olympic semi-final. This came just a day after the men's hockey team lost to Belgium in the semi-final. Millions of Indians must have seen this match on TV and it was like heartbreak for them to see the team lose despite the spirited performance by the teams. Now the question here is, will you curse the players on this defeat or encourage them for further games? What should a country of 135 crores, which is waiting for the Gold medal in hockey for 40 years, do?

When a situation like this arises, people look at it in two ways. The first approach is where they suddenly start asking questioning why the team did not win? Even though these people wouldn't talk about the hockey team for years, they will be quick to raise questions after the defeat because some people of India have become champions in questioning the sportspersons and soldiers.

The second approach is, in such times, you talk to your players and encouraged them. They should be told that we are with them in victory and in defeat. 

A human brain either flies with hope or forgets to spread its wings and clings to the ground reality. Somewhere between these two, happiness is lost, but if reality and expectations are balanced with each other, the scales of happiness become heavy.

It's true that anyone would prefer the gold medal or silver medal over a bronze. However, a new study says that a team or player winning a bronze medal in sports is happier than a team or a player winning a silver medal, and if it is in Olympics, then the happiness increases even more.

This study was conducted by the University of Iowa in the US and using photographs of previous Olympic Games. The researchers analysed the facial expressions and reactions of players when they go to the podium to collect their medals. After studying the medal ceremonies of five Olympic Games, it was found that Bronze medal winners are happier than those who won silver medals.

The Silver medal is given to the player who loses in the final. This means that while taking the medal on the podium, somewhere, there is a regret in the player's mind that had he/she tried more, it could have been a gold medal. It wouldn't be wrong to say that the regret of losing in the final reduces the happiness of the silver medal. Whereas, the team or player winning the Bronze medal wins their match to reach the podium. The players feel that something is better than nothing and they have still won a medal for their country. Here, the colour of the medal does not disturb the colour of happiness.

On Sunday, when Indian shuttler PV When Sindhu won her bronze medal, she was happier than the Taiwanese player, who lost in the final. It was the Taiwanese player who defeated Sindhu in the semifinals, but she lost to the Chinese player in the final and the regret of this defeat affected her happiness, while Sindhu, who lost to her, looked happier.

Photo via Twitter

Similar pictures were seen at the 2014 Winter Olympics during a Figure Skating event. The South Korean player had lost in the final and had to settle for the silver medal, while the Italian player who won the Bronze Medal had happiness on her face. In a study conducted on the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, it was also found that even though Silver is ranked second in the medal list, in the case of happiness, Bronze Medal is at number two.

So don't let your happiness go down because if the hockey teams win their bronze medal match, they will be happier than the silver medal-winning teams.