Even elite athletes must persevere past disappointment

Recent events on the world stage have taught us, yet again, that even the best athletes in the universe must persevere past bouts of heartache and disappointment.

Take the cases of Grant Fisher, Mikaela Shiffrin, and Amanda Moll.

It’s been a world-record-setting February for Grant Fisher, middle.

Fisher, 27, tasted bitter disappointment at the 2022 World Track & Field Championships, finishing just 0.17 seconds from a medal in the 10,000 meters, then fading from 3rd to 6th place in the 5,000 as another runner abruptly crossed in front of him with less than 200 meters to go.

Two years later, Fisher flashed his bona fides in the 2024 Paris Games, snaring bronze medals in both the 5,000 and 10,000. Then, earlier this month, within the span of six days, he took his performance to grand new heights. On Feb. 8, he shattered the world indoor record in the 3,000 meters at the famed Millrose Games, doubling back Feb. 14 for an equally impressive 5,000-meter world best at the Boston University David Heremy Valentine Invitational. His triumphs this year and last were borne out of despair in 2022.

Shiffrin, who turns 30 next month, is one of the most decorated female skiers on the planet. Yet, in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the two-time Olympic gold medalist left the Games sans a medal after competing in six individual and team events. A year earlier, in the 2021 Alpine Skiing World Championships, a fall in a giant slalom race kept her from defending her gold medal in that event. She cited mental health and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for her struggles in 2021 as well as her decision in 2025 – months after a devastating crash in Killington, Vt. – not to seek out Giant Slalom gold in the 2025 World Championships in Austria.

But all that heartache must have made a separate race in the 2025 World Championships – the inaugural Team Combined competition – even sweeter. In that event, Shiffrin and USA teammate Breezy Johnson captured gold in an emotional finish. It was the 15th overall World Championship medal and 8th overall gold medal for Shiffrin. Perseverance, rewarded.

As for 20-year-old Amanda Moll, a University of Washington pole vaulter, cases of heartache have been few and far between. But in recent years, Amanda has been in the shadows as her twin sister, Hana, also a UW star vaulter, attained more of the glory. It was Hana, after all, who won both the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships and the 2024 Pac 12 Championships before finishing 3rd in the 2024 NCAA outdoor finals.

But on Feb. 15, Amanda stepped into an unprecedented spotlight of her own. At the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., Amanda smashed a nearly-10-year-old collegiate record of 15 feet, 7 inches – not once but thrice. After clearing 15 feet, 7¼ inches and 15 feet, 9¼ inches on prior jumps, she had the bar raised to 16 feet –clearing that height, too. It is rarefied air – and then some. Amanda is the first collegiate female ever to clear 16 feet in the pole vault – and the 4th American ever to do it. The other three? They’re all Olympic medal winners: Jenn Suhr, Sandi Morris, and Katie Moon.