Superhuman Sports Feats: Awe or mistrust?
News August 12th, 2008
I saw this article today on CNN, and it’s definitely true for me! Today, it is hard to see someone do some of those super-human Olympic feats without the possibility of performance-enhancing drugs crossing your mind.
So you hear about a 41-year-old swimmer making the Olympics eight years after retiring and two years after giving birth. You immediately think:
A. What an inspiring story!
B. It’s got to be performance-enhancing drugs.
That’s what it’s like to be a sports fan in 2008, torn between awe and mistrust.
“Any time an athlete does something extraordinary anymore, it’s, ‘How can that be?”‘ said Daniel Wann, a Murray State psychology professor. “Because it’s happened so many times. The heroes keep crumbling under the weight of scandals.”
Dara Torres, who set American records and qualified for her fifth Olympics in two individual events at the U.S. trials, is the latest athlete to attract both amazement and suspicion by accomplishing the seemingly impossible.
“I have the perception that you want to believe and you should give someone the benefit of the doubt,” Torres said. “But, unfortunately, other athletes in the past have ruined that for a lot of people.”
The Beijing Olympics will measure how fans burned by doping scandal after doping scandal will react to such a tale. Will 40-something moms crowd around the TV to cheer on Torres?
Or will most people shrug, unwilling to believe? They may decide they can’t take another disillusioning revelation, after putting their faith in Mark McGwire or Floyd Landis, in Roger Clemens or Marion Jones.
I think Dana Torres is the real thing, what about you?
Via Why Olympic athletes may face suspicion - CNN.com
What's Next
Related Posts
- Marion Jones in Jail, Kelli White Bouncing Back
- Life Ban For Trevor Graham, Who Say Yes To Drugs
- Andy Murray Going for Olympic Tennis Gold
- Australian Athletes Will Miss Opening Ceremony
- Beijing Olympics FAN! on the BBC
Look at last night’s men’s swim relay. Three teams beat the old record by several seconds. And the 4th and 5th-place teams probably beat it too
Chinese idiom: 鍚︽瀬娉版潵锛岀墿鏋佸繀杩旓紒 pi ji tai lai, wu ji bi fan !
That means if you stand the highest position of the mountain, wherever you go is going towards lower. The potential meaning is that some people is pursuing the highest position and next step may go the opposite direction.
I’ve known of several athletes who did well in their early days but didn’t really blossom until they had matured in years, and in the case of a few women, had a couple of babies [apparently pregnancy, especially the second, has a lasting and enhancing effect - sorry fellas we’re in the wrong game].
Also, in AUK [this is not an Olympic sports organisation, it isn’t even supposed to be competitive] some of the most outstanding performing members are amongst the oldies and goldies.
. . so it is possible, but olympic improvements in such numbers . . hmmmm
@ kd I don’t know if that proves steroids or better nutrition, sports medicine, training, etc. (it’s hard NOT to jump to steroids when performance increases so much!)
@ tonton I hope we can keep improving our highest point!
@flotsam I feel like one person doing extremely well later in life is a great athlete but seeing a lot of people gets me wondering.
PS I’m still mad that you didn’t like my McD picture!
@Meg - ’snot my fault. I’m sure the pic would have been superb without the red and white stripes, yellow arches etc, but you spoiled it.
I’ve never liked McD, but initially had no particularly strong feelings about it, it was just another franchise from the USA. Can’t say I liked burgers much either. But after I saw a film [while on a plane on the way to China], not sure if I remember it’s title, ‘Supersize It’? ‘Supersize Me’?, I felt even less enthusiastic, if that’s possible.