Elite athletes don't usually smile when they win—they celebrate with pure aggression, like shouting and clenching their fists.
March 25, 2026
Original Paper
Triumph - not pride - is the main emotion expressed after success in non-interactive sports
PsyArXiv · vczs7_v2
The Takeaway
We often think of victory in terms of a 'proud smile,' but this analysis of elite high-jumpers shows that 'pride' expressions don't actually distinguish winners from losers. True success in non-interactive sports is expressed through displays of dominance and aggression.
From the abstract
Matsumoto and Hwang (2012) demonstrated that triumph can be distinguished from pride in Judo fighters, identifying three factors: expansion, aggression, and attention for triumph expressions, whereas pride is characterized by expansion and smiling (Hwang & Matsumoto, 2014b). Our study aimed to identify the dominant emotion (triumph or pride) in non-interactive sports, specifically elite high jumpers, using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS, Ekman, Friesen & Hager, 2002). We analyzed data fro