Cheer for your rival when they do something great. Respect makes competition way more fun.

Rivalry curdles when another person’s success has to be bad news. It does not have to be, and treating it that way removes much of what makes competing worth doing: the standard they set, the reason to prepare properly, the fact that beating someone good means something.

Say the generous thing out loud the next time they do something well. You lose nothing by acknowledging it, and honest recognition tends to sharpen your own effort rather than dull it. Notice too how much lighter the whole thing feels once you are no longer required to hope somebody fails.