LETTER BOX

Crying in sport has received a lot of attention in the last few weeks. As someone who sits between Keith Quinn’s stoic boomers and emotional millennials, have you ever cried as a fan or player?

Marc C, Dunedin

I’m almost scared to lay my cards on the table here but the truth is the weirdest things set me off and the things you’d expect to move me as a New Zealander . . . usually don’t.

I’ve watched the documentary Hillsborough a few times, and each time must have been right in the heart of hayfever season, because I’ve had extremely sensitive eyes.

As a result, I tend to get quite emotional about Liverpool results, even though I wouldn’t consider myself a fanatic by any stretch.

I’ve never cried after an

All Blacks or Black Caps loss or victory, as far as I can recall.

I might have felt wretched if I hadn’t fallen asleep during the closing stages of the 2019 Cricket World Cup final but I woke to my phone going crazy so knew the result by the time I rewound and watched the devastating finale. I felt gutted for the team, but not tearful.

Probably the closest I’ve come to tears in a New Zealand sports sense is the women’s cycling individual pursuit at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

When Sarah Ulmer stopped her bike having shattered the world record and won gold, she was directly in front of the press tribune.

Watching her try to gulp in enough air to pay off all oxygen she’d spent on the track was one of those “you’ll-never-forgethow-lucky-you-are-to-be-whereyou-are-now” moments.

In closing though, Marc, if you feel like having a good bawl over a sports result, you go for it.

It can be good for the soul.

If you have any questions or correspondence, write to sportrac@nzherald.co.nz