Simon Whitfield is a four-time Olympian! But 22 years after stepping onto his first Olympic podium, Whitfield sees sport as more than just a competition. It’s about self-expression, living in the moment, and being your best self.
Putting Whitfield’s philosophy into play
Today, Whitfield is a dad of two daughters. He offers sage advice to young and old who want to find the joy of self-expression through sport.
1. Make it about experiences and not outcomes
He says when you reframe sports as not something where you have to win, but simply a safe space to express yourself through movement, it completely changes the game.
“My parents would tell me to just go express yourself whatever it is you do,” says Whitfield. “Just have a love of sport, whether that was my childhood backyard or the pothole on the street that was our center ice. It was truly about embracing the idea of play.”
2. Find the joy in what you play
Whitfield’s children are part of a running club. Sometimes they race. Sometimes they simply walk and tell their teammates stories.
“It’s fantastic,” he says. “It’s all about the joy of being outside and running, simply because humans can run for no other reason. The fundamental teaching is that there is a real joy in just being able to run and move your body. That’s impacted how we convey to our kids the joy of sport.”
3. Cheer for the effort, not the trophy
After a game, Whitfield’s parents wouldn’t ask him if he won. They’d ask him if he tried his best. He strives to embody that with his kids.
“There are ‘winners’—people who come first in this arbitrary thing we made up,” he says. “But my favorite thing to tell my kids is, ‘Wow, that’s the fastest time anyone has ever done on this day at this time.’”
He even loves cheering for the kids on his children’s opposing teams and says he often gets quizzical looks from the other parents. “I think that just frees kids to know that at the end of the day, it doesn’t actually matter,” he laughs. “It’s just about the theater. It’s just about being present and not thinking about anything else.
“At the end of the day, what my parents wanted to see me do was express myself through hard work,” says Whitfield. “They did not care how I did as long as I expressed myself through hard effort. It gives you so much freedom to … stand on the starting line and realize, ‘Okay, my family isn’t going to be let down. They just want me to express myself, and whatever the outcome is the outcome.’”
And that’s a powerful lesson for every other area of our lives.
By Joshua Duvauchelle
