𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒; 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑠

g. schlierenzauer (fallen star)

we are the champions, my friends....

It's a great feeling to be... a champion.... Dreams fulfilled, that's something. The emotions are indescribable; first the stress eating away at you from the inside, consuming your mind, the pressure taking over. And then you stand on the top step of the podium and wonder: "is this true?" and then it gets to you. Hey, you've just become a world champion! You raise your head in the air, look up at the stars with pride, and their bright glow spreads with whispers, cheering in your honour. Master... You stand at the summit and suddenly you understand how much it means. You let the air out of your mouth, you are invincible. Tears run down your cheeks, leaving wet paths in their wake, everyone embraces you in turn, they all want to congratulate you and you don't even bother with the jealous glances of some of them, it doesn't matter anymore, in the end it's you at the top.... And then you open your eyes, it all disappears. You stand in the middle of an empty room again and wonder, when will it all come back? Is there still hope that it will be like before? A sweet memory remains in your thoughts, but for a person like you, it is not enough. You're a champion, a machine made to win, your place is at the top, not in the middle of the pack, or maybe you're just too used to it? Maybe you just started treating it like a chore, forgetting how much it really meant to you? You're not the same person anymore. You feel obliged to rank as high as possible, but in the back of your mind you constantly have one question: do you really want to? And you can't answer it, maybe you've just always operated under pressure? Maybe you never wanted to be the best and were doing it to satisfy someone else's ambition? When you realise that this could be true, you feel disgusted. For yourself, for the world, for what you thought you loved. You're filled with hatred and you already know you're making the right decision, you've been stuck in all this for far too long, telling yourself that everything is fine, when it was the opposite. It's time to end it all, after all it's better to walk away in glory instead of showing the world the downfall of a champion. You're starting a new life with the hope that things will be okay in the end, but tell me Gregor, was it really worth it?