Would you rather get a bronze medal in the Olympics in an event, or try a risky move and have a chance to end up with a silver?

Maybe a better person to answer that is Ho-Suk Lee, who secured a South Korean sweep in the short-track 1,500-meter speed skating finals last Saturday with a move on the final lap. That is, until he tried an inside pass on his teammate on the final turn, no more than 20 meters from the finish line. That pass resulted in him getting tangled with his teammate and both of them wiping out off the course and slamming into the wall<\p>–<\p>which allowed American Apolo Ohno (who was in fourth right behind the three South Koreans) to capture the silver and become the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian ever. Lee’s desire to beat his teammate and get a little higher on the podium resulted in a big fat “DQ” next to his name.

Let’s break this one down for a second. If you had watched the race or seen a video, you would have clearly seen that the three South Koreans were going to go 1-2-3. Ohno had no place to make up his deficit as he would have not had enough time to get in front of Lee before the finish line. So there are the South Koreans, 1-2-3. Then Lee goes for the silver instead of the bronze. Can you blame him? Everyone on that track wants to win. While he was with his fellow countrymen at the front, the medals are awarded on an individual basis. He, like almost anyone out there, wanted the best possible finish that he could get. So when he saw that sliver of an opening, I am sure he thought “Oh crap<\p>.<\p>.<\p>.<\p>I can pass and get second<\p>.<\p>.<\p>.<\p>I got this.” How can you blame him for wanting the best for himself when he is in the heat of the moment and in the final lap in the sport’s biggest race? If you had a chance for silver instead of bronze, wouldn’t you try for it, too?

Then there is Ohno, perhaps in a mini-panic that he had lost the lead, which he had held off and on throughout race up to this point. If you saw the race, you would know that two South Koreans powered past him with two laps to go. He is in third and then the South Korean passes him in the backstretch of the final lap to move him back to fourth. It is the final turn and there is too much space in between him and the third place Lee. He didn’t get it. He didn’t have enough<\p>.<\p>.<\p>.<\p>the South Koreans beat him this time. No medal.

Oh, but wait. Lee tries to pass and takes his teammate with him. Ohno now sees daylight ahead of him and crosses the line in second place while the two Koreans are trying to pull themselves out of the padded wall that they dismantled.

The old “it’s never over ‘til it’s over” adage rings loudly here. Some argue that Ohno got lucky because of Lee’s questionably greedy move. He skated fourth-best that night but is wearing a silver medal.

But you have to cross the finish line for the race to count. They say 13 and a half laps for a reason because you are supposed to skate all of them, all 1,500 meters. It’s the finish line that matters. Anything can happen in the race, and you are supposed to put it all together. The magnitude of the crash is great because of where it occurred<\p>–<\p>if it had occurred one lap into the race it would not have been nearly as dramatic and controversial. But it occurred 20 meters from the end, from the end of four years of sacrifice, intense training and preparation. Preparation for this exact night, skating the final lap when you can feel the grooves of the engraving on the Olympic medal that is about to be placed around your neck.

But those who don’t put it all together unfortunately do not get to feel those grooves<\p>–<\p>those like Lee.

So no, Apolo should not be wearing his medal in any sort of unworthy fashion. He skated second-best that night because he crossed the line second. Other people couldn’t stay balanced and crashed, tough luck for them. He is not undeserving. Yes, had it not been for that crash he wouldn’t have been on the podium. But the crash did happen. No one has ever won anything without finishing a race or a game or whatever. You have to finish the race if you want a shot at any color medal. Ohno did. Lee and his teammate didn’t. Enough said.

Danny Belch always says he got this. Find out the secret to his success at dbelch1 “at” stanford.edu.