About Christie and other athletes in general who 'fail': those people spent the best part of their life (thus far) and the best years trying to pursue a dream, a goal. It costs them an incredible amount of time, effort, money (not all are Usain Bolt, money-wise) and sacrifices to get to the top. In general: 10,000 hrs. training for a Gold Medal. And oh! Every heard about the 'whereabouts-system'? When doping inspectors turn up and check your urine sample? The turn up during training, when the (young) athlete is at school, during the off-weekends... It's like stalking. And it's the athlete's free will to comply with that system, despite the fact that the athlete is under a microscope, so to speak. All that for a medal.
And when -like Christie- things turn out wrong, not only once, but more times, it's extremely frustrating. Her disappointment must be so enormous! I personally hate it when journalists or people on social media act as keyboard-top athlete/super coaches and know exactly how it should be done, or how the race should have been won. I always hear their frustration or anger in their questions. "Couldn't you..., shouldn't you... Would it not have been better..." Or asking a coach if he's about to replace a team member before the athlete and the coach had a chance to talk and debrief.
I know, I am biased with a talented sailor-with-Olympic-ambitions at home. And it brakes my heart when he skips a friend's party on Saturday evening because he needs to go out in his boat on Sunday. But it is his choice. And yes, I am the taxi to the gym, because I know that he's totally worn out when he returns. Again, his free will. Even so when he goes to the supermarket and reads the labels just to be sure that there's nothing in it that can be illegal. Again, his choice. But when he watches (Dutch) TV-journalists asking ridiculous questions, and suggestive questions about losing a game, he tells me: "That's about the only thing between me and my goal to win a medal on the Olympics!" 10+ft waves, 25+ knots wind: no problem. Sailing in water just above 0 Celsius? No problem. But the pressure and comments on TV and social media make him nervous.
Consider this, when you're behind your desk commenting about an athlete who didn't live up to your expectations. Don't condemn young people for not living up to your standard. (BTW, ask yourself: when was the last time you did some serious physical exercises yourself. Or was it going to the shop for a lottery ticket?).
Menno
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