Q&A with Mark Spitz
“THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEDIOCRITY AND STARDOM IS ONLY 4 TO 5 PERCENT.”
—ON THE EVE OF THE PARIS SUMMER OLYMPICS, SWIMMING CHAMPION MARK SPITZ, 74, REVEALS WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A LEGEND
Mark Spitz, with the seven gold medals he won at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.
When you were 9, you competed in your first swim meet. What happened that day?
It was a local meet in Sacramento. After one of the swims, my mother took me to an area where there were three circles on the ground—6, 5, 4—and a little staircase with the numbers 3, 2, 1. They told me to stand on number 5 and gave me a purple ribbon. But I realized that if I’d swum faster, I would have made it up that staircase. So I took the ribbon off, and to this day, I can’t stand the color purple.
How were you different from other swimmers?
I wasn’t afraid to give 100 percent, regardless of the result. The difference between mediocrity and stardom is only 4 to 5 percent. I swam 4 to 5 percent faster than everyone else. That was my goal—to be faster and not give anyone a chance to think they could beat me.
You’ve written that “success depends in large part on the choices we make.” What bad choices did you make that taught you important lessons?
One bad choice was failing to prepare [for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City]. I decided to swim in three individual events plus two relays. But I’d failed to prepare myself for that many races. I assumed that I would be good in all of them because I held the world record in two of them. That was a mistake.
Four years later in Munich, you won a record seven gold medals. But the morning after your final victory, Palestinian terrorists launched an attack that left 11 Israeli athletes, a police officer and five terrorists dead.
That morning there was a press conference that was supposed to be about my seven gold medals. But as soon as we got off the bus, a Sports Illustrated reporter met me and said, “Have you heard what has happened? You’re going into a crowd of reporters who are hungry for information. They don’t care what you did last night.” The press conference lasted roughly 15 minutes. They asked me questions that I had no answers for. Nothing about swimming at all.
What’s a vivid memory for you?
When I got back to my room, the chancellor of West Germany was there and said, “We’re going to take care of you.” They took me and my coach, Sherm Chavoor, to the airport and threw a blanket over me as I lay down in the car, so the press wouldn’t see me. Then, they put us on a flight to London. Everyone thought I was a target because I was Jewish.
What was it like to be treated by the media as a Jewish hero?
I never expected to have to answer for the fact that I was Jewish. I never denied it. I had a bar mitzvah, and there are some rabbis in my family history. But this was another level. I was supposed to be a spokesman for everything bad that had happened to the Jewish people in the last 5,000 years.
How has the war in Gaza changed your thinking about your faith?
I’m a member of a temple [in Los Angeles], and I communicate regularly with the rabbis. But I don’t characterize myself into a sect or religion. I’m a human being. I’m an American.
How did you feel when Michael Phelps broke your gold medal record in 2008?
I was in an NBC studio in Detroit at the time, hooked up to sports commentators in Beijing. I said, “One word comes to mind: epic.” In my day, I did the best that I could, and Michael followed me and did better. That’s what this is all about: challenging yourself.
Since the 1972 Olympics, you’ve been involved in all kinds of businesses—broadcasting, real estate, private equity. What did sports teach you about business?
Discipline, patience and perseverance. I don’t get depressed when things don’t happen quickly. I understand that things that are great take a while.
How would you like to be remembered?
I feel honored that I was just an ordinary person that at one time did extraordinary things. That says it all.
Interview by Hugh Delehanty