At some point in their careers, top sportsmen and sportswomen tend to ask a question that really has no objective answer: Has it been worth it? Has all that training, controlling the weight, leading a monastic life, ignoring the normal, putting oneself through months and years of denial been worth it? Even if you do win an Olympic medal?
COLUMN | Last Word: A serious sport with a funny name
The British pole-vaulter Holly Bradshaw, bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, said in an interview recently, “Winning that bronze medal has damaged me physically and mentally. I just worry, have I damaged myself too much that I can’t get back from that? And then I almost question, is it really worth it, if I’ve damaged myself for the rest of my life?”
Many sports fans unaware of the physical and mental stress a top athlete puts herself through might be tempted to say something glib in response. Perhaps even suggest they would gladly change places with the athlete for what it might mean in terms of money and prestige.
“I’d wake up in the middle of the night,” said Bradshaw in the same interview, “and I’d have to neck a glass of water because I was so hungry but I was trying to drop weight.” Bradshaw, who plans to retire after the Paris Olympics next year told the magazine, “I say to my husband, ‘I don’t know who I am. When I retire, who am I going to be? You’ve only known me as Holly the athlete. What if I’m a completely different person?’”
COLUMN | Last Word: Bidding for sports’ biggest spectacle
Sport has recently contributed this phrase to the medical dictionary: ‘overtraining syndrome’. There is no suggestion that Bradshaw has this issue, but if regular training can cause such trauma, what about overtraining?
When Simone Manguel, the first Black woman to win a gold at Olympic swimming failed to qualify for the 100m freestyle in Tokyo, she revealed she had the overtraining syndrome. “It was something that I didn’t notice until my body completely crashed,” she said.
Why would anyone give up 10 or 15 years of their lives to voluntarily accept pain and frustration in the pursuit of international sporting glory?
Those outside the magic circle of elite athletes might struggle to answer that question. But to someone who wins a medal, that is what the Americans call a no-brainer. “All my sacrifices are worth it,” as P. V. Sindhu said after winning the badminton silver at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.
Muhammad Ali, who lived his final years with Parkinson’s, had this to say about training, “I hated every minute of it, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’”
Perhaps that is the way some top athletes see it.
Bradshaw’s honesty might encourage other athletes to speak of their own experiences, especially those who see themselves as “medal-producing machines.” And perhaps cause the authorities to wake up to issues that go beyond competition into what needs to be done after the medal is won. Or not won.
Comments
SHARE