I'm as excited about the Olympics as anyone. I've caught some snowboarding (so cool), cross country skiing (fabulously reminiscent of my time covering the sport as a 2002 Salt Lake volunteer), and more.
But there is something bothering me.
Lindsey Vonn is a talented skier, but when she came out before the Olympics and said she was injured, her shin was bruised, she skied in pain, etc., part of me was just like, "then don't compete." What's the big deal? We're talking about your life here, the rest of your life. What if something happened when you pushed yourself and you could never walk again? Would it be worth it to say you competed in the Olympics? Or even won a Gold Medal?
But of course, my inclinations were wussy, and she competed anyway and won a Gold in Alpine Skiing, and they said it was the first Gold the United States has ever won in that sport. Rah rah, everyone was so happy, Lindsey beat the odds, what a fabulous athlete and asset to America, and on and on.
I am being sarcastic. I just don't think this point of view is healthy.
I remember watching the Olympics in 1996 and seeing the Gold-Medal run from Kerri Strug. We were all so ecstatic! Look at her! She's perfect! She can't even stand on her leg and yet she wins for America! Red, white, and blue!
I think we get so blinded by this country pride and this need to win that we ignore the fact that what we are doing isn't healthy for these athletes! Is it right to pressure injured people to compete, simply because they are our best hope? Is it right to then congratulate them exhaustively when they've put their bodies on the line, and they win? Should we be rewarding that? What message is that sending?
There was a fascinating series of articles in the Seattle Times a year or so ago about high school football players and concussions. It was chilling to read. These young kids have been taught their entire lives to play hard, win, and persevere at all costs. But then something happens, like a head injury, and they just push through it because they can't be seen as someone who stops for a head injury!
Days later, some were dead. Some never walked again. High school boys whose lives were over.
It scares me that this is the atmosphere we've created in this country. We applaud, we encourage, Olympians like Kerri Strug who compete when completely injured. I like winning just as much as the next person, but do we really find inspiration in these stories? Kerri Strug stories and Lindsey Vonn stories?
One bio blurb from Lindsey on TV last week said at one point she had also bruised her thumb and sliced her wrist, and she said she felt like she "had been hit with a sledgehammer," yet she was out competing the next day.
If I was hit with a sledgehammer, I'd need to rest.
It's funny I'm writing this today actually, since I'm on this crazy exercise kick and I'm working so hard (and losing weight, yeah!), but last week I overdid it and something happened to my left knee. Ouchy. Shane is telling me to take it easy, see a doctor, chill out.
But oh no, I have to keep exercising. I did the elliptical last night, yoga this morning. I can't stop. I've set a goal for myself. I need to achieve. Right? Isn't the message the Olympians are teaching me is to keep going even when I'm injured because there's no other way?
It's kind of ridiculous. I know I need to take it easy. I want to keep exercising, so I'm limiting myself to just walks and yoga, no hard-core cardio. But it's hard to give that up. It's hard to say, "I can't."
And that's the issue, I think. I don't think it's right that it is so hard for someone to say "I can't." If they really can't, we should be OK with that. Although from watching the Olympics, it's obvious America doesn't like it when someone "can't." When it's important, we pressure -- and I don't think that's right. I bet those paralyzed high school students don't think it's right. I wonder what Kerri Strug would say.
We need to take care of these bodies of ours, since sometimes we completely run them ragged.
Then, it's only natural that sometimes we have to take it easy. I don't want to be afraid of that. In any quest for greatness, there are highs and lows. Work your best to achieve the highs, patiently ride out the lows. In the end, I think we'll all get where we want to go, if we stick with it in a healthy way.
3 comments:
Angela, you always bring up such interesting posts. You're right healing is just as much a part of being healthy as exercising.
Here's my added thoughts: exercise and sports are addicting, just like other vices are. Winning is addicting. Whereas most addicts are shunned for their addictions, in competition and sports they're praised for it, thus furthering the addiction (for good and for bad). I'm not saying don't ever do sports and don't ever compete (that's ridiculous) but I see this as another example of moderation in all things.
I think perseverance is an excellent trait, but so it knowing when to heal.
Anyways, keep on posting you're awesome topics!
1) Olympic athletes are more competitive than anyone else in the world. An injury isn't going to keep them from what they've worked for over the last 15+ years.
2) Olympic athletes are more in shape than probably anyone else int he world. Their bodies adapt better and heal faster than the average person.
3) Olympic athletes know their limits, and they're used to pushing them.
4) In Kerri Strugg's case, it wasn't just her gold she was winning. If she didn't take that last run, she would have cost her 6 teammates the gold they had worked so hard for.
5) In Lindsey Vonn's case, it wasn't a head injury.
6) Adrenaline can do crazy things to the body. :)
Head injuries are one thing, and high school athletes do not need to be pushing themselves that hard.
Olympic athletes with lesser injuries, though...I understand why they continue to compete. They've worked too long and hard, and this is their job and their passion, and the potential reward is too great. Frankly, training and competing at an elite level is very damaging to the body anyway, so it doesn't make sense to give up because of a little incremental risk of increased damage.
That being said, it should absolutely be their decision, and they shouldn't be pressured into competing when they're sick or hurt. Only they know just how much they hurt and what they feel capable of. Not for the press or the public to say.
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