So much struggle! Winning an Olympic medal, or any other sports championship, is not easy. One has to spend years of rigorous training under an expert coach, go through a strict and regulated diet, maintain a high level of fitness, and perform many such austerities. That is the price one has to pay to achieve any worthy goal.
But no matter how precious the goal is, any achievement in the material world is temporary because someone else eclipses our achievement in the future. Even if no one performs better than us, imperceptible time erodes away the name and glory that once accompanied the achievement. Ultimately cruel death snatches away all that we cherish, forcing us to accept another term of imprisonment in the material world, thus keeping us perpetually engaged in pursuing flickering illusory goals.
Human life is precious we cannot afford to lose it by trying to achieve cheap goals. Tapo divyam putraka yena sattvam suddhyed yasmad brahma-saukhyam tv anantam (Bhagavatam 5.5.1): One should undergo austerities in this life by which we can purify our existence and enjoy unlimited transcendental bliss. That is the only medal worth achieving.