As we watch the Winter Olympics, my wife and I are struck by a fantastic observation.

It’s that so little time separates “winners” from “losers.”

We watched the men’s downhill skiing event and we listen to former Olympic skier Bode Miller tell us how so-and-so is a “half-second” behind the leader as he hurtles down the mountainside at breakneck speeds.

It then occurs to us that fractions of seconds keep skiers from standing on the medal podium. If they were only a tenth of a second faster, they would be able to collect a medal.

But are they “losers” in the true sense of the word? Not in my mind.

It’s not just in skiing, either. Speed skaters face the same high bar. The bobsledders, lugers and the skeleton riders do as well.

How can they consider themselves to be “losers” when they come so tantalizingly close to hearing their country’s national anthem being played at these Olympic Games?

They’re all winners … and I don’t mean that in the participation medal sense of the word.

All I can say is, um — wow, man!