Silver lining in winning silver: an exploratory study of supporters’ reactions and coping on the social media towards Lee Chong Wei’s London Olympics defeat

The experience of loss is prevalent in all sports, but research into the phenomenon is scarce. Comments related to two YouTube videos which featured interviews with Malaysian badminton player Lee Chong Wei after his narrow final defeat to Lin Dan in the 2012 London Olympics were analysed in an exploratory attempt to understand supporters’ reactions and coping with the loss on social media. Content analysis of supporters’ collective reactions suggests that most of Lee’s supporters who posted comments were able to find a ‘silver lining in the cloud’ despite this loss, i.e. signs of coping were prevalent. The following seven categories were identified: (a) providing rationalizations, (b) offering solace, (c) expressing emotion, (d) showing respect, (e) displaying solidarity, (f) injecting humour, and (g) being negative. Insights from this study based on reactions on social media offer a fresh perspective for understanding supporters’ coping strategies in response to sport losses which could serve as a catalyst for future understanding of sport losses in sport psychology.