Sports Stars and Role Models
The swimmer Nick D’Arcy is accused of smashing the face of Simon Cowley, a former Commonwealth Games Champion, with a single punch. If proved, a single thoughtless act may end his hopes of going to Beijing and render null and void a lifetime of training. Would that outcome be too harsh? The same day that he was trying to avoid saying anything about the event, the former Australian rules player Wayne Carey was trying to explain some of his own past lapses to a television audience. The two men are vastly different, but alike in their predicament: sports stars who have left the firmament and fallen to earth. As a society, Australians expect a lot of elite athletes. Is it too much? Sport is still viewed fondly as a metaphor for life – and training for life. A champion sports star is not necessarily going to be a champion human being. Public adulation can quickly undermine self-discipline and replace it with an arrogant sense of entitlement. If the public has learned by now to be cautious with its admiration for champions, each new generation of champions must relearn, it seems, the same lesson. So be it. Extraordinary talent absolves no one from the ordinary rules of life.
Source: Sports stars and role models editorial, unnamed author, The Sydney Morning Herald, 02/04/08
