'The image of the Olympics'

Have you seen it? You must!

The moment Brazilian?Gabriel Medina paused briefly in the air with his board in tow as he raised an arm to supporters along the Tahiti coast after delivering a breathtaking performance to earn a score of 9.9.

The image was captured by AFP's?Jér?me Brouillet and it has captured the hearts and minds. But why is this image so powerful? And why has it captured our hearts and minds?

Metaphor and myth underpinning the sports pursuit of excellence

Let's take the concept of sport for a second, and think specifically about what makes sport what it is... Underpinning the value of sport is the acquisition and celebration of human excellence within a confined and agreed upon space and set of rules. Take a football pitch for instance, where white lines are marked out to define the parameters to which all activity within the game should take place. The role of the player is to give their best in an attempt to win, within the confides of these lines. While 'boxed in' as far as actual playing space, athletes put themselves on the line - very publicly in the case of the elite - baring their soul and character in the pursuit of excellence with capabilities that go beyond what we deem as the norm within our own 'boxed' understanding of reality. It is this aspect of sport that positions the endeavour perfectly for metaphoric translation. It is the pursuit of maximising human capability - attaining otherwise seemingly 'beyond human' fetes...

“The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another” Lakoff & Johnson, 1980

How many times do we see smash-hit campaigns from leading governing bodies and rights holders focus on the idea of 'beyond human' or mythical concepts? Take Channel 4's 'Super humans' ad from the Paralympics in 2012 or the recent ESPN, NBA ad 'when superstars, rising stars, freaks and jokers collide.' These two examples just scratch the surface of an industry that is awash with mythic-inspired metaphor - many of which have been highly regarded.

Here is some food for thought... Ever considered how mesmerising it is to watch a balloon float to the sky or an aeroplane glide in flight? Symbolically it suggests a departure of this earth into the unknown - there is a mysticism to it. Perhaps that same mystic is at play when we see a basketball player leap and hang in the air. Think about the resonance that Michael Jordan's jump and reach in the Space Jam movies had with a young generation and its over- arching role in growing the sport of basketball in the 90s. Gravity defying... Not within the expected confides or boxes of our reality...

This creative resonates with people on a deeper level because of an unspoken human truth - we are all tied to this world and seek to understand that which is not accessible to us via our senses. Sports, and the athletes that pursue excellence within sports, push the extremities of human capability making the unnatural and seemingly impossible, possible. The athletes who devote themselves to the practise of self-betterment are the very people who attain the seemingly unworldly. It is why they are so adored by fans.

In a Sports Biz world that will have you thinking the only way to success and impact is through high end production, AI and often de-humanising narratives, what value can you place on a image like this that acts as a pertinent reminder of our own human flourishing capabilities?