idk, isn’t that a bit similar to how, say, people approach competition in general?
When you start to creep up to your (current) skill level, you invariably start to get competitive and try to surpass the next goalpost, since we are somewhat conditioned to aim for the top, aren’t we?
Thing is, either you stop then and there, or one’s getting obsessed by getting #1, and then you are invariably set for being surpassed by someone who’s similarly obsessed… so in a way, if you are #2 or #3, and you see someone beating #1, it’s not as personal as being toppled, i guess.
Granted, as you mention, if you are insta-responding to someone besting your time, it feels a bit like someone’s being a pain in the a … especially if it is in response w/o any action for a while. Otoh, if you’ve reached a ceratin skill level, why invest much time to best it if you are well clear of the next one?
(Answer is, when my OCD comes through and i want to make good on each and every mistake i’ve made, i’ll probably feel fvkked when someone waltzes in and beats your performance, and in their best/my worst case without many attempts. Only serious speedrunning i’ve ever done was DKC with/against my brother, when we tried to go below the 1h threshold, and when my brother went below 1h, i stopped playing it (since the point was to see what Cranky would say, and that was that 
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otoh, in my late 20/early 30ies i’ve discovered that i started to enjoy extracting the max from a given package and when i feel that i managed punching above my weight, e.g. a place just-below-50 can be worth more than a top 10 you get easily, if that makes sense 
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