A tremendous display of skill and perseverence.

September 4, 2022 by Kingsley Flett in Analysis with comments

Whenever she was on the camera, I studied her face, searching for a change in expression. Something different from the serene stare and occasional smile she’d been showing us all week. Then, on hole 18, she punched her drive low and hard across the water, giving the light breeze no chance to lift the disc out of bounds. Safe on the green with an eight-throw lead, it seemed the moment had arrived. As she strode back down the tee pad, her eyes had the slightly opaque look of someone who is fighting to keep a lid on their emotions.

After laying up to the base of the elevated basket, one tap-in away from a first world title, she turned and wrapped caddie Keiti Tätte in a long hug. It was then that Kristin Tattar failed at something this week. She could no longer stop the tears.

Why do we cry in moments of triumph, anyway? Some might say that the joy causes us to reflect on the struggle that got us there, and Tattar has certainly had plenty of struggle. But the research disagrees. Apparently, the crying releases chemicals which deepen our feeling of the moment. We also cry to invoke empathy from others, so they can connect and share our experience.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but we have a lot of expat Estonians playing disc golf in Australia. By my calculations, the country of 1.3 million with its 2,276 current PDGA members makes that the highest number per head in the world. Many of them seem to have travelled too. In Australia, the Estonians are universally loved — as is Kristin Tattar it seems, because hers was a very popular win. I swapped messages with some friends who all admitted to having tears well up. ‘I’m not crying, you’re crying.’

“It feels amazing,” Tattar said. “It doesn’t feel real. I don’t know if someone can wake me up from this dream. It’s just crazy. I thought about it a lot during the off season. This dream kept me going when it was tough. I’ve been thinking about it almost every day and now I’m here and I achieved it so it’s definitely a dream come true.”

When she was invited to say a few words to her followers, Tattar switched to Estonian at the end of the message. “Tänan teid südamest,” she said as she put her hand to her chest. Thank you from the bottom of my…