Four years ago, Missy Franklin made a big splash at the London Olympics, winning four gold medals and winning over fans with her infectious smile, bubbly personality and ability to touch the wall before anyone else. Her mom and dad, DA and Dick, were lauded for their low-key approach and for letting Missy remain a normal teen. Rather than turn pro and cash in on her golden moment, she returned to Colorado to swim with her high school team and longtime coach, then went on to win an NCAA title -- and study psychology -- at the University of California, Berkeley.Missy did eventually turn pro after two seasons at Cal, and the 21-year-old brought a bevy of sponsorships and enormous expectations to the Rio Games. I spoke with DA, who has written a book with her daughter that will come out in December, a few weeks before the U.S. trials about the joys and stresses of sports parenting. Watching Missy weather what she called the hardest week of her life -- during which she did not medal in an individual event -- with remarkable grace, I thought back to that conversation. And I wondered: What can the Franklins example teach the rest of us about raising resilient kids who can bounce back from devastating disappointment?Here are a few of DA Franklins hard-won words of wisdom -- as well as some sage sports parenting advice Ive received from the moms of other superstars -- about how to successfully support your daughters and sons from the sidelines.Failure is an optionWhile its heartbreaking to see your child feel like shes failed, its an experience no one can escape, says DA. So you need to prepare your kids, however prodigious their talents, to cope with coming up short at some point.After Missys triumph in London she suffered a crippling bout of back spasms at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships, left her longtime coach to head off to college, and struggled to balance the demands of both sponsors and school. Those life lessons inspired her to write a poignant letter to her parents, thanking her best friends in the entire world for letting me make my own mistakes.When Missy hurt her back -- the pain was so, so severe that she couldnt move for 45 minutes -- it was a teachable moment for her, says DA. She realized then that not everything will go perfectly for her. So she decided, I need to focus on the things that I can control.Letting your child experience the sadness of not measuring up can help him assess what hell have to do differently next time to succeed, says Diana Benedict, mom of Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts.When Betts, now a frontrunner for American League MVP honors, started playing sports, he was the smallest kid on the court. A few minutes into his first basketball game, another boy stole the ball from him.Mookie sat there and bawled, says Benedict. You would have thought that somebody had just hit him in the face. I told him, I want you to make this an opportunity to better yourself and be stronger next time. Youre gonna go out there, play hard and get the ball back. He didnt do it that game, but when he did, I could tell that something had clicked for him.Dont let others define themHouston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, the NFLs reigning defensive player of the year, is recovering from back surgery. But its hardly the first challenge hes faced in Houston. When the Texans took Watt 11th overall in the 2011 draft, fans didnt exactly roll out the welcome mat.The entire draft party in Texas booed him, says his mom, Connie Watt. That was hard. I told him that it didnt have anything to do with him or what hed done in college. It was because they wanted the team to take someone who was better known. They didnt know J.J. or his work ethic.Let your kids see you struggleIf they see you stumble and survive, writes Jessica Lahey in her book, The Gift of Failure, they will realize that failing at a task is not the same as failing as a person.Kevin Durant credits his mother, Wanda -- who raised Kevin and his brother, Tony, as a single parent in Washington, D.C., on a postal workers salary -- for showing him how to rebound from setbacks. He saluted her as the real MVP during his moving 2014 NBA MVP acceptance speech.At one point, when I was working overnight shifts, Kevin asked me, How long are you going to keep working like this? says Wanda Durant. It was hard on him and his brother, too. But I told him, Its what I have to do to make sure were OK. He understood.After the game, talk about anything but the gameWin or lose, dont rehash your childs performance right after a match or meet, says DA Franklin.After Missy swam as a kid, the only things I would ask were: Did you do your best? and Did you have fun? she says. When Missy would say, Yep, I had a blast, that was the end of the discussion. Her father and I would respond, Fantastic! Now lets go get some dinner.I still tell her, Have fun! before every competition.When your kid is ready to talk about the game -- or anything else -- dont lecture, just listen, says Wanda Durant.Kevin knew he could talk to me about anything, says Durant, who counseled her son as he agonized over where to sign this summer. There are still times when he will call and well just kind of talk things through.Let their teammates tag alongDont just listen to your own kid -- get to know her teammates, too. You never know what you might overhear during the carpool chatter.Even at those stages when your kids dont want to talk to you, per se, about whats going on, invite their friends over, says Connie Watt, who runs her sons foundation, which funds after-school programs for teens. Theres a lot youll learn.Be the parent, and let the coach coachDick and I agreed -- lets let the coach handle the coaching and well do the parenting, says Franklin. Weve seen so many times that parents can affect how the child feels about the sport. We wanted to give Missy that space to develop that relationship and trust with her coach.Benedict was her sons first coach, but eventually realized that it was time move to the sidelines.Sometimes the parents can be the worst enemy, she says. Sometimes its best to step back and let a friend or a professional teach your child.Remind them that this too shall passAs Missy, who remained gracious and forthcoming with the media after each race, suffered through her public belly flops off the blocks, she did what any 21-year-old would: call her mom and have a good cry.?She just told me that its going to be OK, and thats all I needed to hear, Missy told reporters in Rio.Missy puts a positive twist on everything, DA told me back in June. She has a very optimistic, spiritual way of looking at things.?Indeed, it only took a day or so after her final race in Rio for Missy to regain her buoyancy outside the pool. Its all going to be OK. Im loved, Im supported, she said. If a disappointing swim meet is the worst thing that happens to me in my life, I have a pretty damn good life.Aimee Crawford (@AimeeJCrawford) is a senior editor for ESPN.com and a baseball, soccer, hockey and hoops mom/coach to two sports-obsessed kids. Cheap NFL Jerseys . During the athletes parade, the 23-strong Ukrainian team was represented by a lone flagbearer in an apparent protest at the presence of Russian troops in Ukraines Crimean peninsula. Wholesale Football Jerseys .com) - Yankee Stadium is the home of the Bronx Bombers, but on Sunday afternoon it will open its gates to host the latest addition of the Hudson River Rivalry. http://www.wholesalenfljerseysstore.com/ . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. 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Shes now an office clerk for a sugar manufacturer, and also the captain of the Zimbabwe womens soccer team at the Olympics.If you need a reminder that the Olympics are about more than just riches and rewards, then the Zimbabwean soccer team is one of the starkest in Rio de Janeiro.Apart from the joy of qualifying for the Olympics, the biggest feat was showing what we can do as women in this country, Muzongondi said. I dont think before this achievement we had the recognition we deserved as women footballers in this country, and womens football in general.Paid only $20 a day each when on national team duty, and just $50 each for playing in a match, its no wonder the Zimbabwean players all have day jobs.Until recently, they didnt have their own uniforms, making do with cast-offs from the mens national team. Their pre-Olympic training camp was at a university campus where they slept in dorm rooms usually occupied by students and ate plain food served up in the colleges dining hall. The training equipment was basic.Even Zimbabwean officials have been of little help, and instead jeopardized the teams chances of making the Olympics because they didnt provide enough money to fly the squad to a qualifier in Ivory Coast, forfeiting that game.Somehow, the Zimbabwe team still made it to Rio, battling through all these issues and more to now rub shoulders with the best in the world. They are the first soccer team -- men or women -- from Zimbabwe to qualify for the Olympics, striking a blow for the womens game back home, which is severely underfunded and neglected, Muzongondi said.Determined to make the federation take notice of them and respect them, the players went on strike in the buildup to the Olympics to demand better wages and treatment.ddddddddddddFinancially we struggle more than the men, yet we have done what no other Zimbabwean team has managed to do, Muzongondi said. We are looked down upon as women footballers.Zimbabwe lost to Germany 6-1 and to Canada 3-1 in its first two matches in Rio and plays its final group game against Australia on Tuesday. But forget those scores and concentrate, rather, on the fact that Zimbabwe is ranked No. 93 in the world and still made it to the top 12 teams in the world.They left their mark on other teams, too. Canada coach John Herdman said he showed his players newspaper reports on how the Zimbabweans had faced up to adversity. One of the stories told of how the Zimbabwe team, known as the Mighty Warriors, scrambled together $100 to pay for a medical scan for one of the players.And theres Muzongondis personal story, too.She left Zimbabwe and its ruined economy for neighboring South Africa looking for work. She found a job as a house cleaner but it didnt pay enough and she packed her bags and got back on a bus for home, committing as much as she could to soccer this time while making ends meet at the sugar manufacturer.Money aside -- the players got another $50 each for making soccer history for their country and qualifying for the Olympics -- Muzongondi thinks they have earned something important.Now everyone in the country is talking about the Mighty Warriors, she said. To us, thats the greatest thing we have achieved -- recognition. ' ' '