Kiszla: After flaming out of Olympic steeplechase, CU alum Emma Coburn goes off on angry tirade, cursing her performance: “Everything about it was bad.”

TOKYO — It took a brutally honest Colorado woman to finally bring the hammer down on the Crying Games, where we’ve heard too many U.S. Olympians turn their first-world problems into a red, white and blue pity party.

After the CU Buffs alum and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist flamed out of the 3,000-meter steeplechase, she went off. Coburn blasted her performance as a “disaster” that was both “sad” and “mystifying” during a long and sometimes profane tirade.

“I’ve had (crappy) races in my career, but I’ve always been able to come to the big championships and show up,” said Coburn, born 30 years ago in Boulder. “Yeah, this is terrible.”

She inexplicably hit the wall at the race’s halfway point, stumbled badly down the stretch, faded to 14th place among 16 finalists and ultimately was disqualified for taking a misstep off the track surface.

These are the Games where belly-button gazing has become cool while counting medals has been deemed insensitive.

It’s now supposed to be all about the journey. Right?

“No, we’re professional athletes,” Coburn said. “Obviously, everybody has different experiences. But for, me, it’s about results.”

OK, for those of you gauche enough to still be keeping score at home, Team USA holds a narrow overall lead in the medal count, with 79. But don’t look back, because China is flexing in the rearview mirror. Chinese athletes have won gold 32 times, compared to 25 first-place finishes by Americans.

There are a number of legit reasons why NBC’s television ratings have stunk, from the day-and-night time difference between Tokyo and Topeka, to widespread cord-cutting, to more important things than the discus on the minds of Americans, like whether our kids will have to wear masks in school.

But nothing sells in the USA like winning.

While American dominance has taken a hit from the 2016 Summer Olympics, we’ve been lectured at these touchy-feely Games by everyone from men’s basketball coach Gregg Popovich to swimmers on the podium that our expectation for Americans to be the best is misguided.

Enough already. In the age of COVID, everything’s harder, from buying groceries to training for the Olympics. Everybody has felt the pain and anxiety of isolation, whether it’s playing sports in a bubble or watching a loved one die from behind glass.

Yes, gymnast Simone Biles deserves applause for reminding us there’s no shame in reaching out for help when under mental duress. But we’ve also discovered putting one foot in front of the other during a pandemic is half the game, whether you drive a bus or balance on the beam for a living.

“We’re singling out mental health in these Olympics,” Coburn said. “But for me to come here and be physically really prepared and to suck like I did is not what my 20 closest friends and family have done for (me) the last five years.”

Maybe we should stifle the whine from the Life is Hard and So Are The Games set. We’re talking about sports here, not matters of life and death. The rest of the world doesn’t want to hear our excuses.

“It sucks to suck on the biggest stage,” Coburn said.

It takes courage to utter the hard truth no athlete ever wants to live.

“Today is the day that makes the whole thing (crappy). Not my life, not my career, but it makes the journey (crappy),” Coburn said on an oppressively muggy night. “It’s a long way to travel and a lot of COVID hoops to jump through. There are a lot of Team USA staffers that bend over backwards to make sure we’re healthy and taken care of. There are a lot of Team USA athletes that are winning medals.”

Hugs are always welcome, after a big victory or an embarrassing defeat. But a true champion doesn’t need orange slices, a condescending pat on the head or our pity.

Was Coburn hard herself? No doubt.

But has America gone soft? You decide.