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Australian knackered hack correspondent, knackered downunder, writes…

As far as winning is concerned, don’t under-estimate the motivating power of ego, psychology, attitude, self-delusion — or whatever else you might want to call it. Ego is central to achievement, but it’s also got to be backed up by reality (what we can actually do).

Sports psychologists have long recognized its importance. For most of us, we need to exercise some restraint in how far we express our ego. For high achievers, however, restraint may seem unnecessary. They know that they are the best, and seemingly arrogant statements can also serve as reassurances that they are simply the best.

For example, American Shawn Crawford, the current Olympics 200-metre champion, is now in Australia. When asked by a reporter if fans downunder could expect anything “special” he replied: “I’m special. I’m going to be there.”

And when asked about a race with Australian John Steffenson, Crawford confessed he didn’t know that the Australian 200-metre champion was even participating. “He’s a competitor? I don’t focus on anyone else but me. It might be a little selfish, but hey, if I spent all my time researching everyone else, then my life would get behind. I can’t afford it.”

The 28-year-old Crawford — who calls himself “Cheetah Man” — is a natural showman. In TV show Man vs. Beast he raced a zebra and a giraffe in a 100-metre dash on dirt. He said the zebra beat him because it had jumped the gun. But he did win against the giraffe. The zebra’s winning time was 9.9 seconds, while Crawford recorded 10.8. Crawford said later to ESPN The Magazine, “Tell the Zebra I coulda whooped him.”

And in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Crawford ran his first round in the 100 metres sprint wearing a baseball cap. He eventually collected the gold for the 200 metres and silver for the 4×100 relay. And once in Europe, he ran with a Phantom of the Opera mask. As his vision was blocked — because the mask moved — he ran out of his lane and was disqualified.

Crawford’s showmanship may irk some of us, but it’s his confidence and process of self-assurance at work.

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