I remember a few years back reading an article about ultramarathoners, those demented souls who live to run grueling races of 100 miles or longer. Many of them can only manage to hold part-time jobs that barely support them, as they spend nearly all of their time training, conditioning, eating, hydrating and plotting their next races. It is an utterly obsessive and largely solitary pursuit. As the author pointed out, these athletes are spending vast amounts of time and energy on a pursuit that doesn’t advance, improve or enlighten the condition of their fellow human beings. It’s a wholly narcissistic endeavor.
I thought of this article when I watch a bewildered Brendan Hansen try to explain his not even medaling in his supposed premier event, the 100m breaststroke. Despite the media’s reports of his demise, he insisted he wasn’t done yet and wasn’t going to be ending his career on such a disappointing note. “Well, good luck with that, pal,” I thought. “I hope your legs hold up.”
I sometimes wonder about the endgame for our modern Olympic athletes. At some point in their lives, age or injury or mental fatigue will catch up and outstrip them, and they will be left to create their futures. But so many of these athletes have spent some of their most formative years at the center of their own universe — cared for, watched over, reported on, interviewed, handled, managed, coached, groomed, massaged and over-scheduled by a entourage of handlers— that I question their abilities to find any kind of normalcy.
One young female athlete (I forget the sport, NBC is so flighty) last night admitted that she had missed high school to pursue the Olympics, but that, despite not having had much of a teen-age experience, figured she had the rest of her life to make up for it. Really? I think she may have missed more than just the prom. You develop a lot of interpersonal skills in adolescence, as well as a healthy respect of the world and its wonders/horrors/realities.
I seem to remember the great Olympic decathlete Bruce Jenner having a major personal-life meltdown at the end of his Olympic career, and he’s had a bit of a checkered life since. (Reality TV? Please.) How do you go from front-page headlines to being an average Joe or Jill? Of course, some of them do just fine, the Mary Lou Rettons and others who continue to advance their sport and inspire other young athletes.
But cushy jobs as sports broadcasters and elite coaches are not in the cards for all athletes. Since sports psychology is such a booming business, I would hope there is some sub-specialty there that might help athletes transition from the medals stand to every-day life.
Update: Apparently the NYTimes has been pondering this very issue as well.